Five Kinds of Saints

There are five kinds of saints mentioned in Sarvārthasiddhi . They are :

Snataka saints

1.Pulāka saints : The Pulāka saints are those

• (i) who are slothful towards practicing the secondary vows and,
• (ii) who sometimes and somewhere are unable to completely observe the basic vows.

They may have lapses or laxity in perfect conduct. These saints are not only Dravayalingī but are psychologically restrained (Bhāvasanyamī) also.

2.Vakuṡa saints : Such saints are those

• (i) who are naked and observe all the vows continuously,
• (ii) who, however, care for the adornment of body and accessories,
• (iii) who, but, are always surrounded by their family members i.e. disciples and,
• (iv) whose mind is spotted with various kinds of delusion or attachment.

3.Kuṡīla saints : The Kuṡīla saints have two varieties :

• (a)Prati-sevanā Kuṡīla saints (Imperfect saints)
• (b)Kaṣāya Kuṡīla saints (Gleaming-passioned saints)

(a)Prati-Sevanā Kuṡīla saints : These saints are surrounded with possessions, and, though, they observe basic and secondary vows completely, but there may be lapses in the latter case thus they are saints with imperfect conduct.

(b)Kaṣāya Kuṡīla saints : The saints who have control over all the passions except the gleaming passions (Sanjvalana kaṣāyas) are called gleaming-passioned saints.

4.Nirgrantha or Passionless Saints: The saints who have unmanifest fruition of karmas like the mark of line made in water by a stick and who will attain omniscience and omniconation in an Antarmuhūrta’s time, are called Passionless Saints.

5.Snātaka or Omniscient Saints : The saints who have destroyed the four destructive karmas and who are omniscients at the thirteenth and fourteenth spiritual stages, are called Omniscient Saints.

All these five kinds of saints are called Nirgranthas. Though there is some difference among them on the basis of the purity of their conduct, they all are one with respect to the Naigama and Sangrahe Nayas (standpoints). In other words, they are Bhāvalingī Saints.

Number of Restrained Ones

The number of saints at the sixth spiritual stage of non-vigilant restraint is 53,98,206; the number of vigilant saints at seventh stage is 2,96,99,103; the number of saints of four spiritual stages of subsidential ladder (Upaṡama ṡrenī) is 1196.

The number of saints of the four spiritual stages of destructional ladder (Kṡapaka ṡrenī) is 2393, the number of Jinas in the thirteenth spiritual stage is 8,98,502; the number of Jinas in the fourteenth spiritual stage is 598. Thus, the total number of all the restrained saints is 8,99,99,997.

In other words, the number of restrained saints from the sixth to fourteenth spiritual stages is nine crores less by three. I bow to them with my folded hands.