Articles & Blog
45 articles
The Blind Men and the Elephant
The ancient parable of blind men touching an elephant illustrates the Jain teaching that partial perspectives, though genuine, mistake a fra...
Pramana and Naya in Jain Epistemology
Jain epistemology distinguishes pramana, valid knowledge that grasps an object comprehensively, from naya, knowledge that apprehends a singl...
Jain Logic and Its Place in Indian Thought
Jain logic developed a rigorous system of non-absolutism, conditioned predication, and standpoint analysis, offering Indian philosophy a dis...
The Five Types of Knowledge in Jainism
Jain philosophy classifies all cognition into five kinds, from ordinary sense knowledge to perfect omniscience, tracing the soul's ascent as...
Kevala Jnana: Omniscience in Jain Thought
Kevala-jnana is the perfect, all-encompassing omniscience attained when knowledge-obscuring karma is destroyed, revealing the soul's true na...
Darshana and Jnana: The Jain Theory of Cognition
Jain thought distinguishes darshana, the indeterminate apprehension of an object, from jnana, the determinate knowledge that follows, togeth...
The Nine Tattvas: Foundations of Jain Reality
The nine tattvas are the fundamental truths of Jainism, mapping the soul's relationship with karma and charting the entire path from bondage...
Jiva: The Living Soul in Jain Thought
In Jainism the jiva is the eternal, conscious soul whose defining mark is upayoga. Infinite in number, souls range from liberated siddhas to...
The Eight Karmas: How Matter Binds the Soul
Jain karma is subtle matter that clings to the soul. It sorts into eight great prakritis, each obscuring a faculty or shaping a life, togeth...
Ghatiya and Aghatiya: The Two Ranks of Karma
The eight karmas split into four destructive ghatiya karmas that veil the soul's essence and four non-destructive aghatiya karmas that merel...
Leshya: The Six Colours of the Soul's Mood
Leshya describes the tint that passions cast upon the soul, graded through six colours from black to white. A vivid parable of six traveller...
The Fourteen Gunasthanas: A Ladder to Liberation
The gunasthanas chart the soul's ascent through fourteen stages of purity, from deluded ignorance to omniscience and final release, tracing...