14 Marganas : 7. Gyan Margana

The entire universe contains six types of dravyas namely Jiva, Pudgala, Akash, Dharmastikaya, Adharmastikaya and Kala. Each of the dravya have infinite qualities of which some are common like existence, etc while there are some qualities which are unique to that dravya e.g. manifestation for kala in terms of time units . Pudgala is known by qualities of touch, taste, colour etc . Jiva is identified by the unique quality of Gyana which is not present in any other dravyas. On the other hand tiniest of the Jiva is not devoid of gyana which makes the jiva as alive while all other dravyas  are inert. Thus Gyana is an uncommon quality of the Jiva dravya. This Gyana is the tool by which Jiva knows at the same time  Jiva is oneness  with Gyana hence Gyana is not separable from Jiva therefore Jiva is also called Gyana. There are two types of ways by which a Jiva knows hence Gyana is said to be of two types : 1. Pratyaksh (Direct)  2. Paroksh (Indirect). In direct knowledge the soul knows the subject in total clarity without assistance of any other tool while in indirect knowledge , the soul knows the subject only with assistance of other tools like eyes, ears, light etc hence is not so clear knowledge since it is dependent on quality of tools.

Types of Knowledges

There are five types of knowledges for Jivas having samyak darshan ( right belief) and there are three types of knowledges for Jivas having Mithya Darshan ( wrong belief) , thus there are totally eight types of knowledges. These are 1. Mati gyana 2. Sruta gyana 3. Avadhi Gyana 4. Manah Paryaya gyana and 5. Keval gyana associated with right belief , while those who have not attained right belief , the three possible knowledges become 1. Ku Mati gyana 2. Ku Sruta gyana and 3. Ku Avadhi or Vibhang gyana .

1.       Mati Gyana -  Knowledge generated with the assistance of 5 senses and mind is known as Mati gyana. Even one sensed jiva who has only touch sense would have mati gyan pertaining to that sense alone. It is important at this stage to understand the process of knowing something. We know a tree because at that moment the karmas pertaining to total obscuration of the knowledge of that tree are not fructifying , on the other hand we do not know German language because the karmas pertaining to total obscuration of the German language are fructifying. The karmas can be divided into two categories depending upon the intensity of its fructification, namely Sarva Ghati which totally obscures and Desh Ghati which partially obscures the characteristics of Jiva. A Jiva would not have any knowledge if the Sarva Ghati spardhak ( group of atoms) of Mati Gyanavaraniya karma were fructifying whose function is to obscure  the Mati Gyana. Mati gyana is generated when  the Sarva Ghati spardhak ( group of atoms) of  Mati gyanavarniya karma are not fructifying and only Desh Ghati spardhak are fructifying at a given instant. The term spardhak may be construed as group of atoms having same intensity on fruition. Since Desh Ghati spardhak do not obscure knowledge totally, some knowledge is revealed to the jiva in spite of its fruition and that is how the Jiva knows something.

One more  important thing we have to know is that a karma is never destroyed once it has been bonded  to the Jiva without giving its result on fruition. Even Munis with extreme penance cannot destroy it from its existence. What is done is that the specific lot of karmas are fructified as lower intensity version and thus those karmas pass away harmlessly. Further karmas of longer fruition period are made to fructify much earlier. This process is carried out in bulk and is known as Nirjara. Though practically we say that karmas are destroyed, but literally it is not so. Now specifically , if sarva ghati karma is fructified , the Jiva would never have any knowledge and would be inert. Instead what happens is a process called Kshayopasham which means destruction(kshaya)  come subsidence (upasham). The Karmas responsible for obscuring Mati gyana are Mati Gyanavaraniya and Viryantaraya which block that knowledge and also the effort to know the subject respectively. Now Kshayopasham process blocks the fruition of Sarva Ghati spardhak  which is deemed as destruction (Kshaya) and  does not allow them to fructify in near future although they are in existence , a process known as subsidence(upasham). On the other hand they are allowed to be fructified as Desh Ghati spardhak at the current moment along with other Desh Ghati spardhaks which were supposed to fructify at that moment. Since these do not obscure knowledge totally, some knowledge is revealed at that moment. With this back ground we can proceed further.

Thus  ekendriya (one sensed) jiva has knowledge of touch sense which means that the Sarva Ghati spardhak of ekendriya Gyanavarna pertaining to touch sense are in Kshayopasham and only Desh Ghati spardhak are fructifying at that moment. On the other hand the Sarva Ghati spardhak of karmas obscuring remaining 4 senses and mind  are in fruition and hence no knowledge pertaining to those senses is revealed.

For a human being the Sarva Ghati spardhaks of karmas obscuring the five senses and mind are in Kshayopasham and Desh Ghati are in fruition hence knowledge pertaining to these senses is available. However one person knows more than others because the intensity of Desh Ghati karmas is weaker compared to others. He may know German  language if obscuration of that karma is not there while other person’s knowledge of German may be obscured.

Now even a Mithya Drishti jiva with wrong belief may have knowledge and that too of a high order. He may be an Einstein. Still he would not be called Mati Gyani , instead he would be called Ku Mati Gyani since his knowledge is associated with wrong belief. The reason for this discrimination is the foundation of Jainism. Till a Jiva knows his own self i.e. his own soul, he is not considered a Gyani. After all the objective of life is to know yourself and attain Moksha, and if one does not know his own soul then he does not know anything even if he knows a lot about external objects. Knowing the self is the process of attaining Samyak Darshan which is attained in 4^th Gunasthana . In 1^st Gunasthana a jiva is Mithydrishti and in 2^nd too he is in Sasadan Gunasthana where although Mithyatva is not in fruition but Anantanubandhi Kashaya is present hence he is treated as Ku Gyani. In 3^rd Gunasthana i.e. Samyak Mithyatva his knowledge is mixed  and is called as such. Thus the Mati gyana term is applied for knowledge only from 4^th Gunasthana onwards.

Once a Jiva has attained Samyak Gyan i.e. he is Mati Gyani , then it would take a maximum of ardh pudgala paravartan period for him to attain Moksha. Another important aspect is that if a Jiva attains Samyak Gyan then humans and tiryanch would definitely take birth in Deva Gati unless he had bonded any other gati prior to bonding the Ayu Karma. On the other hand the Devas and Naraki  who have attained Samyak Gyan would definitely take birth in humans. The only exception is that Naraki of 7^th hell does not die with samyak darshan and goes to tiryanch gati as a rule. Further samyak drishti do not take birth in lower heavens of the bhavan trik. Remember that Deva and Naraki necessarily go to Tiryanch or human gati after death. But a samyak drishti deva or naraki would always take birth as human.

Types of Mati Gyana :  As mentioned earlier the Mati Gyana is produced by the five senses and mind together and thus is of six types. However there are further divisions of the same. There is a four step process by which a thing is known. These are called – 1. Avagrah 2. Iha 3. Avaay and 4 . Dharana. The Avagrah is the first contact with the object where an object is seen/sensed but it is not known what  that object is. Avagrah itself is of two types : a. Vyanjan Avagrah and b. Artha Avagrah. The Vyanjan Avagrah is contact type sensing which is applicable to four senses of touch, taste, smell and hearing. In each of these the first contact itself is not sensed for a while although the contact is made. For example when water drops fall on a new mud pot, it takes several drops before it becomes wet . The initial few drops do not make any effect on the pot since they get absorbed. Similarly even when sound of a word is present but the ears do not pay attention to it. After some time only the sound is realized. These are known as Vyanjan Avagrah. The realization of the contact is Artha Avagrah which is contact less , applicable to eyes and mind since they see the object directly. Thus for four senses, vyanjan  avagrah is followed by artha avagrah while for two senses the artha avagrah is direct.

Next step is called Iha. Here the object is seen in some more detail with the desire to distinguish it more clearly. For example , something white fluttering is seen. That is avagrah. Next is the desire to distinguish whether it is bird or a flag. This extra knowledge of the object is called Iha. It is not of the nature of doubt , since that is Mithya Gyan and here the subject is Samyak Gyan. Here the knowledge is being gained at every moment and decision is not taken hence it is not treated as doubt.The third step is Avaay which is confirmation of the object as bird only and not flag by means of seeing more features of the same. The fourth step is Dharana which is consigning the knowledge to memory and recalling at a future date that this is the same object I had seen earlier. Thus with five senses and mind the types of Mati gyan become 4x6+4=28 types. The types of objects are separately classified into 12 types depending upon they are one or many, one type or several types  etc. Thus the total types of Mati Gyan become 28x12=336.

2.       Ku Mati Gyana : As described above , the knowledge in absence of right belief is Ku mati gyana since importance is given to a Jiva knowing the self rather than others. Such a jiva does not hesitate to indulge in harming or hurting other animals  since he does not realize that they also are Jivas like himself. He believes in false scriptures wherein wars and killings may be glorified. Even if he may have low passions , he still does not know the nature of his own self and this qualifies him to be Ku Gyani. It is like a cheque with lots of zeros but without a preceding digit and hence is valueless. All jivas from one to four sensed are anyway in this category. Even in 5 sensed jivas, those without mind fall in this category since they cannot realise themselves without mind. Only the 5 sensed jivas with mind have the chance to be samyak drishti and hence they can be Mati Gyani. It does not matter if they are Tiryanch, Humans, Naraki or Devas. All of them have the capability to realise themselves.

3.       Sruta Gyana :  After  sensing an object with Mati Gyana , further realization of some other subject is called Sruta Gyana. This is generated with the kshayopasham ( destruction cum subsidence) of Srutagyanavaraniya karma which obscures the srutagyana and Viryanataraya karma which blocks the effort to realise. It means one does not get sruta gyana before Mati gyana. This is of two types : a) akscharatmak ( alphabetical)  and b ) Un akscharatmak ( non alphabetical. The alphabetical is feasible only for jivas with mind since they can contemplate on the words heard or read to act upon them using Sruta Gyana. The non alphabetical is applicable all others. It is important to note that mind is not essential for sruta gyana. Even one sensed Jivas can have sruta gyana. For example sensing extreme cold is by means of touch sense is Mati Gyana. This is not healthy or to withdraw from it is an instinctive sruta gyana decision. We also see that if we bring a finger closer to an insect , it senses the finger and runs away from it. Without mind such action is initiated by sruta gyana.

Types of Sruta Gyana :  Both alphabetical and non alphabetical Sruta Gyana together are divided into 20 categories. The names of these are as follows:

1)Paryaya  2) Paryaya Samas 3) Akschar  4) Akschar Samas  5) Pada  6) Pada Samas  7 )Samghat 8) Samghat Samas  9) Pratipattik 10) Pratipattik samas 11) Anuyog  12) Anuyog samas  13) Prabhat-Prabhatak 14) Prabhat-Prabhatak samas 15) Prabhat 16) Prabhrat samas 17) Vastu  18) Vastu samas 19) Poorva 20) Poorva samas.

1) Paryaya Gyana : This defines the least possible knowledge any jiva could have. This is possible of Sookshma Nigod Jiva that too of aparyapta ( incomplete) type i.e. this jiva dies before completing his body formation in less than antarmuhurta hence he is named as Labdhi Aparyapta Jiva. Even in such jiva the knowledge is not constant at every moment of his life. It keeps increasing hence the least knowledge is defined at the moment when he is taking birth as Sookshma Nigod Jiva and is traversing in vigrah gati with three bends. At the moment of first bend only his knowledge is the least which is called Paryaya Gyana. Subsequent moments it keeps increasing. It is important to recall that even this knowledge is not called one unit. It has infinite units of knowledge with one unit being called Avibhag Pratichheda which is the indivisible least knowledge. (Please see the article on concept of infinity). Why it is not one unit? Because even at second moment the knowledge increases by infinitesimal amount. Which would not be possible to describe if it were one unit.

2) Paryaya Samas Gyana: The knowledge at second samay  onwards of labhdi aparyapta jiva is paryaya samas gyana since it is higher by an infinitesimal amount. This knowledge keeps increasing by six sequential orders called Shatsthan Vriddhi as follows: a) increase by fraction of infinite number  b) Increase by fraction of innumerable number  c) Increase by fraction of Numerable number d) Increase by multiplier of numerical number e) increase by multiplier of innumerable number  f) Increase by multiplier of infinite number. There is a certain order in which these multiplications are carried out which is not described here. Suffice to say that in one cycle of infinite times multiplier , the other multipliers are multiplied innumerable times. Then such cycle are repeated innumerable times of the size of number of space unites of Lokakash. After such an increase only we reach the third level of sruta gyana namely Akschar Gyana. All  intermediate states of knowledge are Paryaya Samas Gyana. We can easily surmise that there are innumerable  infinite steps of such paryaya samas gyana.

3) Akschar Gyana : Akschar gyana itself forms a numerical part of the entire sruta gyana. It is defined of three types : 1) Labdhi Akschar 2) Nirvritti Akschar   3) Sthapana Akschar. The first Labdhi akschar is the capability realized to know one akschar by the destruction cum subsidence of Sruta gyana varniya karma. The Nirvritti Akschar is the sound and letter realized by that Akschar and third Sthapana is the print form of the letter in applicable language. Thus by means of listening to one letter whatever knowledge is acquired is called Akschar Sruta Gyana. It is important at this stage to understand the magnitude of Sruta gyana by the following Gatha:

Out of the knowledge of Omniscient , only an infinitesimal amount of knowledge pertaining to Jiva etc. is spoken in the divine sermon of the Tirthankara. After listening to this his chief disciple Ganadhar dev script an infinitesimal part into Sruta Gyana of the type of Dwadashang (twelve part knowledge).

This gives us some idea of the extent of knowledge of omniscient.

4) Akschar Samas Gyana : From one letter onwards the knowledge acquired from several letters or group of letters is called Akschar Samas Gyana. Beyond this is Pada Gyana.

5) Pada Gyana : This is of three types- a) Artha Pada  b) Praman Pada  c) Madhyam Pada.

The group of letters which imply a meaning is called Artha Pada. Praman pada is formulated by group of eight letters. The third called Madhyam Pada forms the basic unit of knowledge of the Dwadashang scripture which constitutes the entire Sruta Gyana. This comprises precisely of 16348307888 non repetitive letters. While Artha pada and Praman pada are used in ordinary practical application of the world, the Madhyam pada is used in extraordinary divine scripture as scripted by Ganadhar.

6) Pada Samas :  After Pada gyana, increase by one letter would constitute pada Samas gyana. Thus by going on increasing letters we get double or triple pada gyana which would all be part of Pada Samas Gyana. Upto several thousand of pada gyana constitutes Pada Samas Gyana.

7-8) Sanghat & Sanghat samas Gyana : Beyond pada gyana one extra letter would make it Sanghat Gyana. For example the Jiva undergoes transmigration in 4 Gati. After listening to the group of Madhyam Pada which describe one Gati , the knowledge which is acquired is called Sanghat Sruta Gyana. Increassing it by one letter constitutes Sanghat Samas Gyana.

9-10) Pratipattik & Pratipattik Samas Gyana : Beyond Sanghat Samas  Gyana increase by one letter would constitute Prtipattik Gyana. The knowledge of 4 Gati is one such example of Pratipattik Sruta gyana. Increasing it by one letter makes it Pratipattik Samas.

11-12) Anuyog& Anuyog Samas Gyana: Increase of Pratipattik Samas by one letter constitutes Anuyog Gyana. The description of 14 Marganas is one such Anuyog Sruta Gyana. Upto four times anuyog gyana minus one letter constitutes Anuyog Samas gyan.

13-14) Prabhratak Prabhratak & Prabhratak Prabhratak  Samas: Increasing Anuyog samas by one letter makes it Prabhratak Prabhratak gyana. This is equal to one adhikar of Prabhratak Gyana, while increasing that by one letter onwards equal to 24 times of Prabhratak Prabhratak are constituents of Prabhratak Prabhratak samas.

15-16) Prabhratak & Prabhratak Samas: Increasing Prabhratak Prabhratak samas by one letter forms Prabhratak in which there are 24 adhikar of Prabhratak Prabhratak. Increasing that by one letter onwards constitutes Prabhratak Samas upto the extent of 20 Prabhratak.

17-18) Vastu & Vastu Samas: Vastu constitutes equal to 20 Prabhratak and increasing it by one letter onwards forms Vastu Samas which goes upto 10 times of Vastu gyana.

19-20)  Poorva & Poorva Samas : One Poorva is equal to 10 Vastu Gyana and upto 14 Poorva constitutes Poorva Samas gyana beyond which there is no further division of sruta gyana. The 14 poorvas are the  divisions of 12the Ang Drishtivad of the Dwadashang. The entire Jain scripture i.e.sruta gyana comprises of 12 Ang Dwadashang.

Content of Sruta Gyana :  The Devanagari script for Prakrit language comprises of 64 letters of which 33 are consonants, 27 vowels and 4 are called Yogavah. Out of these combination letters are generated. The total numbers of letters which can be generated and are non-repetitive is given as   2⁶⁴-1= 18446744073709551615. This constitutes the entire letters of Sruta Gyana. Now letters of Madhyam Pada which is used for formulating Dwadashang  are 16348307888. Dividing the total number of letters by the numbers of Madhyam pada gives us the number of Padas in Dwadashang which comes out to be 1128358005 known as AngPravishta  with a balance of 80108175 which comprises the AngBahya of the total Sruta Gyana.

Greatness of Sruta Gyana :  Sruta Gyana is considered equivalent to Keval Gyana as far as the knowing aspect of the entire Dravyas, Gunas and their Paryaya is considered. The only difference is Sruta Gyana is indirect while Keval Gyana is Direct. The one who has knowledge of entire sruta gyana is called Sruta Kevali while omniscient is called Kevali Bhagwan.

4.       KuSruta Gyana :  Like Matigyana, the sruta gyana also is said to be Ku sruta if the Jiva is Mithyadrishti without right belief. Only when he acquires right belief and right knowledge in 4^th gunasthana , he is called SrutaGyani. In the 2^nd Gunasthana he has Ku Sruta gyana due to presence of Anantanubandhi Kashaya while 3^rd gunasthana is with mixed knowledge.

In any case all jivas have Mati and Sruta Gyana of one type or other  at all times even if they are Sookshma Nigod Jiva. It means any Jiva would have minimum of two knowledges at any time.  

5&6. Avadhi Gyana & Ku Avadhi Gyana :  Unlike Mati ,Sruta  and Kevala Gyana , the Avadhi Gyana is bounded in terns of Dravya, Kshetra, Kaal and Bhaav i.e. Minuteness, distance range, time range and manifestations of subject matter. However Avadhi Gyana is direct knowledge unlike Mati or Sruta which is dependent upon the senses and mind. Secondly its subject is only pudgala matter i.e. it would not know about the manifestations of Jiva unless it is coupled with the manifestation of Jiva in the form of its body which is material.

Avadhi Gyana is of two types  1. Bhava Pratyaya   and 2. Guna Pratyaya

(Pratyaya = Cause)

The first one is attained due to taking birth in particular Bhava i.e. Gati . Both the hell and heaven born Jivas by birth have Avadhi Gyana throughout their life hence it is called Bhava Pratyaya. The second one is attained by few humans or Tiryanch Jivas as a special quality of their manifestation. Hence it is called Guna Pratyaya. As applicable for Mati and Sruta Gyana the term Avadhi Gyana implies presence of Samyak Darshan while Ku Avadhi or Vibhang Gyana implies absence of right belief. Tirthankara Devas also have Bhava Pratyaya Avadhi Gyana by birth in their last human birth. Basically this knowledge implies the destruction cum subsidence of Avadhi Gyanavaraniya karmas and Viryantaraya karmas which have the property of blocking Avadhi Gyana and effort to attain it respectively. In any case the Guna Pratyaya Avadhi Gyana would be attained only by Payapta ( complete) humans and five sensed Tiryanch with mind. Unlike  Bhava pratyaya which is present throughout the life span, the Guna Pratyaya may be present for a limited period and then disappear.

In general Avadhi Gyana has three classes 1. Deshavadhi  2. Paramavadhi  3. Sarvavadhi

The Bhava pratyaya gyana to Devas ,  Narakis and Tirthankaras in family stage  is only Deshavadhi which has limited capability. The other two is in reality Guna Pratyaya only since it cannot be attained by one without Sanyam ( control) which is applicable only to Munis that too who have taken birth for last time i.e. those who would not take birth again and would reach Moksha in the same birth. Hence once this knowledge is attained it would never disappear. On the other hand Deshavadhi Gyana can appear and disappear.

Range of Avadhi Gyana : As mentioned before the Avadhi Gyana , the knowledge has limits of Minuteness, distance range, time range and manifestation range. The Deshavadhi is inferior in terms of these parameters to Paramavadhi which in turn is inferior to  Sarvavadhi Gyana. In fact from least to maximum avadhi gyana the number of possible levels are innumerable lok praman i.e. equivalent to number of spatial elements in entire lok ( universe) multiplied by innumerable number which indeed would be a very very large innumerable number.

The minimum avadhi gyana in terms of Dravya corresponds to the size of the particle which would be known and would not know smaller than that size. The distance range is equivalent to the size of sookshma Nigod jiva at its smallest size. Hence the one with minimum avadhi gyana would not know larger than that range.  In terms of time period it is limited to innumerable fraction of one Avali ( which itself is innumerable fraction of one second). It means he may know of past or future within this small period only. Lastly by Bhaava implies that he may know all the paryayas ( manifestations) which may happen within this period of past or future. This defines the minimum Avadhi Gyana in terms of dravya , kshetra, kaal and bhava.

From minimum of avadhi Gyana to maximum of Sarvavadhi Gyana there are innumerable steps. In terms of dravya it becomes more and more minute until it reaches smallest for Deshavadhi Gyana and then it enters Paramavadhi Gyana range followed by Sarvavadhi Gyana range which ends at one Permanu ( one atom) size. Remember that one permanu occupies one space unit of lokakash unlike one atom( as we know) which is far larger than that size.

In terms of distance range the minimum range was limited to the minimum size of sookshma nigod jiva while maximum range is lok praman i.e. entire occupied universe for the deshavadhi gyana. It means that the one with highest deshavadhi gyana would know his subject anywhere within the lokakash area. The Paramavadhi gyana would be several times the deshavadhi gyana and the sarvavadhi gyana is innumerable times the lok praman. It means that the capability to know by avadhi gyana is beyond the size of the lokakash innumerable times but since the subject matter cannot lie in range beyond lokakash , he would know them anyway.

In terms of time range the smallest unit is innumerable factor of one avali which  increases sequentially by one samay till it reaches one samay less than one palya unit. The  Paramavadhi and Sarvavadhi gyanas are innumerable times this unit.

In terms of bhavas the smallest was the number of manifestations possible within innumerable factor of one avali . It increases in relation to the dravya range such that the number of bhava and dravya remain the same.

As mentioned earlier the Avadhi Gyana is possible only for Samyhak Drishti i.e. 4^th Gunasthana onwards for all four types of Jivas belonging to any Gati. However this being Deshavadhi gyana the ranges in terms of distance and time etc vary depending upon the order of hell or heaven. In 1-3 Gunasthana only Kuavadhi or Vibhang gyana is possible. In any case these gyanas are available only for panchendriya jivas with mind and having complete body ( paryapta).  Only in humans sanyam is feasible hence they can have Paramavadhi or even Sarvavadhi gyana. However it is not necessary that all munis have avadhi gyana.

7. Manah Paryaya Gyana : Capability to learn of the subject within the mind of another Jiva is called Manah Paryaya Gyana. However here also the subject should be related to material object. For example someone lost a ring and is thinking of the ring , then the Muni having Manahparyaya Gyana can sense that this Jiva is thinking of the lost ring. Further this knowledge is feasible only for Munis i.e. 6^th gunasthana onwards to 12^th gunasthana. Hence only humans can have this knowledge. Since only samyak drishti jivas have this knowledge , there is no Ku Manah paryaya gyana. At best a Jiva can have four gyans with a minimum of 2 gyans.

Manahaparyaya gyana is of two types : 1. Rijumati  2. Vipulmati 

Where the subject is simply under contemplation by the other Jiva and that can be sensed by Muni , then that knowledge is Rijumati since he could gauge a simple thought. However where the Jiva is tending to hide the subject of contemplation by activities of mind, speech or body and which can still be sensed by the Muni, then such knowledge is called Vipulmati.

Like avadhi Gyana the range of manah paryaya gyana in terms of distance is limited. The Rijumati gyana range is limited to few kosas (2 kosa=1mile) and the maximum range is 7-8 Yojan only. ( 1 Yojan=  4 kosa ) For the vipulmati gyana the minimum range is few yojan (8-9) while maximum range is limited to Manushya Loka. The entire Manushya loka is the maximum distance in which human beings can be present which amounts to two and a half dweep area. Overall it means an area of 45 lakh yojan square. In terms of time range the Rijumati is limited to minimum of 2-3 past/future births and maximum of 7-8 past/future births. For vipulmati the minimum is 7-8 births and maximum is innumerable factor of one palya. Thus we see that Manah paryaya gyana is quite inferior to avadhi gyana in terms of ranges but in terms of purity it is far superior. Like avadhi gyana this too is direct knowledge without using senses.

8. Keval Gyana : Last of the knowledges is Keval gyana which is revealed when Jiva crosses 12^th gunasthana and destroys all the gyanavaraniya karma. Since there is no obscuration of knowledge then the absolute knowledge appears which is keval gyana in 13^th guansthana onwards. This knowledge would now always be there since there is no return to worldly ways. As far as capability of knowledge goes , he knows every single knowable of the universe. In fact the capability is much more i.e. innumerable times that of the knowables, which means that if there were more objects of knowledge then they too would have been known. Presently the knowledge is limited by the knowables. Once a Jiva has Keval gyana the other four knowledges become irrelevant since this is direct knowledge of a thing. Thus the minimum knowledges is one( keval gyana)  while maximum is four.

Numbers of Gyani Jivas : In all the four Gatis the total of Mati gyani jivas i.e samyak drishti jivas is innumerable factor of one palya. Same is the number of sruta gyanis. The Manah paryaya gyanis are just humans which would be numerable. The Keval gyanis would be numerable humans plus the siddha jivas which would be infinite. The avadhi gyani tiryanch are innumerable fraction of mati gyani jivas. Avadhi gyani humans are finite. Adding these two and subtracting from the numbers of Matigyani jivas would give us remaining avadhi gyani in hell and heavens. The kumati gyani and kusruta gyanis can be computed by subtracting the mati gyanis and siddha jivas  from the total number of jivas.