The Jaina Concept of Kevalajnana in the Light of Modern Researches in Thanatology

Summary

This paper by Arvind Sharma explores the Jain concept of kevalajnana—omniscience or perfect knowledge—and examines its plausibility in light of modern research into near‑death experiences. In Jainism, kevalajnana is the highest form of knowledge attained by liberated souls; it arises when the karmic obstructions to perception and knowledge are completely removed. While Jain philosophers debate its exact nature, they agree that it denotes absolute, instantaneous comprehension of all substances and their modes. Modern researchers like Raymond Moody have collected accounts of people who temporarily leave their bodies during clinical death and report extraordinary experiences. In Life After Life and Reflections on Life After Life, Moody summarises dozens of near‑death narratives describing tunnels, lights, and encounters with deceased beings. Many subjects also report a panoramic vision in which the entirety of their lives—and sometimes a universal knowledge of past, present and future—appears before them. Sharma notes striking parallels between these experiences and Jain descriptions of kevalajnana: both involve a sudden, intuitive, non‑discursive awareness; both subjects claim the knowledge is indescribable and overwhelmingly complete; and both return to ordinary consciousness without retaining the omniscient state. Some accounts even liken the otherworldly realm to a library or school where all knowledge resides, echoing Jain imagery of knowledge residing in the soul. The article also considers the Jain practice of sallekhana (ritual fasting to death), suggesting that it may facilitate a controlled passage toward such states. However, differences remain: near‑death experiencers are ordinary individuals who accidentally glimpse this knowledge and quickly forget it, whereas Jain doctrine holds that omniscience is attained only by spiritually perfected beings who have eradicated all karmas. Kevalajnana also implies exhaustive knowledge of all substances simultaneously, whereas near‑death reports often focus on personal life reviews. Sharma argues that while near‑death phenomena cannot prove the existence of Jain omniscience, they make the concept more plausible to modern minds by providing empirical cases where consciousness appears to transcend normal brain function. The parallel suggests that the human mind may have latent capacities for expanded awareness which are realised fully only at the culmination of spiritual practice.