On the Sarvajñatva (Omniscience) of Mahāvīra and the Buddha

Abstract

Sarvajñatva or omniscience is an attribute which, like omnipotence (sarva-śaktimatva) and omnipresence (sarva-gatatva), is considered to be a prerogative of God. The Vedic seers were well acquainted with the concept of omniscience, as can be seen from adjectives like viśva-vit,viśva-vidvān, viśva-cak-ṣu and sarva-vit, applied to the Vedic deities, and notably to Agni. We do not meet with the term sarvajña until the period of the Muṇḍakopaniṣat, presumably a pre-Buddhist text, where it comes to be used for the Brahman, the Absolute “from whom this, namely the saguna Brahman, comes to birth as name, form and food”.2 In the Māṇḍūkyopaniṣat2 and in the literature of the subsequent periods, the term comes to be used exclusively to describe the Īśvara of philosophical systems like Yoga,4 Nyāya and Vaiśesika, as well as the Purānic trinity of Brahmā, Viṣṇnu and Śiva. In all these cases the word is taken in its literal meaning, viz., the knower of ALL, with emphasis not only on the infinite content of this knowledge, but also on the ability of direct perception, independent of the mind and body.