Here are the main types of knowledge (Gnan) that a soul (jiva) can acquire in Jain Dharma, and what the soul can achieve with them:

• Mati Jnana (sensory knowledge through the mind): Knowledge gained through perception, reasoning, and memory using the mind and senses. It helps a soul understand the world and live rightly in daily life.

• Shrut Jnana (scriptural/authoritative knowledge): Knowledge obtained from scriptures, teachers, and authoritative sources. It helps the soul learn correct doctrines, ethics, and spiritual steps.

• Avadhi Jnana (knowledge of distant or past events): Clairvoyant-like knowledge where the soul perceives events beyond ordinary sensory reach. This is a siddhi (supernatural power) associated with advanced spiritual states, not the goal itself.

• Manahparyaya Jnana (mind-reading or telepathy): Knowledge of another person’s thoughts or inner states. Like Avadhi Jnana, it is a siddhi that can arise to a high degree in seekers, but it is not the ultimate aim of the spiritual path.

• Kevala Jnana (omniscience): Absolute, perfect knowledge of all things—forms, beings, past, present, and future. This is the highest form of Jnana and is attained by a kevali (enlightened soul). It is not merely intellectual; it accompanies complete liberation from bondage.

What the soul can achieve with these:

• With true Jnana (especially Samyak Jnana, i.e., correct knowledge as part of the path), the soul can begin discarding wrong beliefs and attachments.
• When Jnana is combined with right conduct (Samyak Charitra) and right belief, it leads toward Moksha (liberation) from the cycle of birth and death.
• Kevala Jnana, the highest knowledge, marks the state of a fully enlightened being who has destroyed all delusion and achieved ultimate liberation.
• The practical aim for most aspirants is to cultivate right belief, right knowledge, and right conduct to progress toward Moksha; siddhis like Avadhi or Manahparyaya Jnana are considered by some traditions as by-products of advanced spiritual progress, not as the ultimate goal.

Notes:

• There are differences in emphasis between Digambar and Shwetambar traditions regarding interpretation and details of these knowledge types, but the core idea of five distinct forms of knowledge and the supreme value of Kevala Jnana remains central.
• The ultimate aim remains the soul’s freedom from karma through proper understanding, ethical living, and spiritual discipline.