Dr. N.L. Kachhara
Cognition that is made by the soul by the means of material symbols like words, gestures, etc. is called articulate knowledge. The cause of articulate knowledge is matijnana. Really, this form of knowledge is matijnana with prolonged activity. Srutijnana, like matijnana, is also produced by the senses and the mind. Both empirical and articulate knowledge refer to states of the soul that has been transformed by the removal-cum-subsidence of obscuring karmas. Corresponding to such transformations are processes in the physical body: activities of the senses and mind, which are instrumental in the production of knowledge. In the case of empirical knowledge, the process goes through four steps (of sensation, etc.) as mentioned above. At the end of this process, the soul assumes a certain mode and the memory of the object or event is stored in the mind (and the brain). Matijnana and srutijnana are very much interdependent and it is difficult to separate them.
Articulate knowledge is also defined as the application of empirical knowledge. For instance, one learns that fire burns after placing a hand close to a fire. This is empirical knowledge that shows the burning quality of fire. Based on this knowledge, the measures taken to prevent burning, and to use fire for cooking and other purposes is articulate knowledge. The same knowledge of the burning quality of fire is articulate knowledge for the other individual who learns this without experimentation. It is therefore difficult to draw a line between articulate knowledge and empirical knowledge.
All beings, from one-sense to five-sense, possess both empirical and articulate knowledge. A soul could never be bereft of matijnana and srutijnana. In the case of beings that are not endowed with a mind, this knowledge is sensual. The sensing of sunlight by plants is empirical knowledge; the growth of branches toward sunlight is articulate knowledge. The sensing of moisture in the soil by plants is empirical knowledge; the growth of roots in the direction of moisture is articulate knowledge. In a laboratory experiment, worms were given cardboard to feed on. They refused to eat it a second time, but when bread was given they ate it repeatedly. The sense of what is worth eating is empirical knowledge; using this knowledge to select food is articulate knowledge.
All knowledge available in written or oral form irrespective of its source (e.g. the teachings of Omniscient individuals, scientific investigations, etc.) is empirical knowledge in the strict sense and becomes articulate knowledge when it is understood and followed and when the corresponding transformation in the state of the soul of the reader takes place. Traditionally sruti refers to the Agamas, the canonical scriptures. The Agamas comprise of twelve angas and other texts written by Acharya. The sruti is of two forms: the bhavasruti and dravyasruti. Bhavasruti is the state of the soul and dravyasruti is texts containing teachings (and also in modern times the knowledge from all sources). Dravyasruti is the cause of bhavasruti; bhavasruti is the means of distinguishing between good and bad or between the soul and the body. Srutijnana can lead the soul to the state of omniscience: its importance has been compared to kevaljnana. A person with srutijnana can know all objects of the world, the present, past or future, and all modes and states. But this cognition is indirect. He knows but cannot directly perceive what is known. In this respect sruti is inferior to kevaljnana. Articulate knowledge gained with the help of the mind is much superior to that obtained without the mind. This is why human life is a rare opportunity of unparalleled value for a jiva.
The following are the steps in srutijnana:
Bhavasruti of the speaker ® words ® hearing ® bhavasruti of the listener
Words and hearing are parts of matijnana; the srutijnana of the listener is preceded by matijnana. Matijnana and srutijnana have a cause-and-effect relationship: matijnana is the cause and srutijnana is the effect. Dravyasruti, texts, is the cause of matijnana: hence, matijnana is not preceded by srutijnana. In matijnana there is no obstruction between the senses, the conscious mind, and the object, so it is considered to be practically direct cognition. In srutijnana there is a word interface between the senses, the conscious mind, and the object, so it is not considered to be direct cognition. In matijnana, contact with the object is necessary, but it is not in srutijnana: merely by hearing the words, the soul perceives the object.
There are four characteristics of mental activity: (1) buddhi thinking, understanding, imagining, memorizing, identifying, speculating, etc.; (2) enthusiasm acting with eagerness and speed; (3) entrepreneurship converting ideas into actions; and (4) bhavana having perseverance and zeal, constantly engaging with the activity.
There are fourteen varieties of articulate knowledge, which are (i) concerned with linguistic symbols, (ii) concerned with rational beings, (iii) authentic knowledge, (iv) knowledge that has a beginning, (v) knowledge that has an end, (vi) gamika, and (vii) knowledge that is included in the angas (canonical texts containing the direct teaching of Arihanta Mahavira, the Omniscient) and the opposites of these seven. These fourteen kinds of articulate knowledge are as follows:
- Linguistic symbols: knowledge is communicated through words and the like
- Non-linguistic: knowledge is communicated by gestures and other symbolic expressions
- Relating to rational beings (endowed with a mind)
- Relating to irrational beings (not endowed with a mind)
- Authentic knowledge leading to emancipation
- Spurious knowledge, consisting of faulty doctrines and views detrimental to emancipation
- That which has a beginning
- That which is without beginning
- That with an end
- That which is without an end
- The last four varieties are divisions of the scriptures and are relative to actual treatises that have been written by some persons: as such, they each have a definite beginning in time. However, the knowledge recorded therein is without a definite beginning and without a definite end, since the world process is eternal at both extremes.
- Gamika sruti, the twelfth anga called Dristavada in which some portions are repeated in accordance with the context
- Agamika sruti, the scriptures that do not have repeated passages.
- Scriptures included in the angas composed by the Ganadharas, the direct disciples of Mahavira.
- Scriptures composed by authors other than the Ganadharas, i.e. Acharyas.
