In Jain thought, all souls (jivas) are indeed bound by karma and driven by ignorance in their ordinary state. Yet they carry the latent potential to know the truth and to burn karma when the path is revealed to them.

• How did jivas know this could be burned? Because a Tirthankara awakens the correct path and openly teaches it. The Tirthankaras attain kevala jnana (perfect, omniscient knowledge) by shedding karmas through intense ascetic effort, and they divulge the means to burn karmas to others. Ordinary souls hear or read these teachings, and with faith, correct understanding, and right conduct, their own ignorance can begin to burn away.

• The role of right guidance: In Jainism, right faith (samyak darshan), right knowledge (samyak jnana), and right conduct (samyak charitra) together constitute the path. A true guru, a Tirthankara, or a trustworthy path of dharma helps the jiva recognize that karmas are burnable and that liberation is possible through discipline, meditation on non-violence, truth, and detachment.

• Digambara vs. Śvetāmbara nuance: Both traditions affirm that liberation comes from burning karma via the path shown by a perfected soul. They may emphasize different textual presents or modes of teaching (and, in some cases, different interpretations of who reveals what aspect of the path), but the central idea remains that the jiva’s ignorance can be dispelled and karmas can be burned when the path is known and followed.

In short: jivas did not learn this by their own isolated reasoning alone. They receive the teaching from a Tirthankara who has already burned his own karmas and attained kevala jnana, and through practicing the revealed path (samyak darshan, jnana, and charitra) a jiva can begin burning its own coverings and progress toward liberation.