The Correlation of Soul and Knowledge: A Philosophical Analysis from the Jain Perspective
Journal for Transdisciplinary Approach in Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2026 DOI: 10.4103/jtacam.jtacam_29_25 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Narrative review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | The reviewed Jain sources present knowledge as the soul's intrinsic, self-luminous mode of cognitive engagement rather than an externally acquired property, with five graded stages of knowledge read as the unfolding of that innate luminosity. The authors conclude that epistemic refinement mirrors the soul's purification, and liberation is the progressive manifestation of inherent cognition through removal of karmic obscuration. |
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Jain philosophy treats consciousness as an ontological feature of the living self ( Jiva [~soul]/ atma [~soul]) and locates knowledge ( jnana [~knowledge]) as an intrinsic, self-luminous quality that becomes manifest as karmic obscuration is attenuated.
Objective: To synthesise classical Jain scriptural and philosophical positions on the soul-knowledge relation and to present a coherent narrative account of how epistemic purification functions within Jain soteriology. Methodology: A narrative review was undertaken using (i) primary Jain sources in Prakrit and Sanskrit (canonical works and authoritative commentaries) and (ii) secondary scholarly literature on Jain metaphysics and epistemology. Concepts were extracted, compared across sources, and organized into themes spanning ontology, epistemology, and liberation theory.
Results: Across sources, knowledge is presented not as an externally acquired property but as the soul’s essential mode of Upayoga (~cognitive engagement) (cognitive engagement), expressed primarily as knowledge ( jnana (~knowledge)) and perception ( Darshana [~perception]). Jain epistemology classifies knowledge into five stages (mati, sruta, avadhi, manahparyaya, and kevala), which can be read as a graded unfolding of the soul’s innate luminosity. The apparent tension between identity and difference of soul and knowledge is resolved through Syadvada (~conditional predication) and Anekantavada (~nonabsolutism), allowing conditional identity without reducing the soul to a single attribute.
Conclusion: The reviewed literature supports a robust Jain account, in which refinement of knowledge mirrors purification of the soul, and the path to liberation is explicated as the progressive manifestation of inherent cognition through the removal of karmic veils.