Accordingto Jains, every soul has the potential to become an arihant. A soul which destroys all kashayas or inner enemies like anger, ego, deception, and greed, responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance, becomes an arihant.[1]
In Jainism, omniscience is said to be the infinite, all-embracing knowledge that reflects, as it were in a mirror, all substances and their infinite modes, extending through the past, the present and the future.[7] According to Jain texts, omniscience is the natural attribute of the pure souls. The self-attaining omniscience becomes a kevalin. Pandit Banarasidas in Samaysaar Natak describes the Omniscient soul as:[8]
Meaning: The omniscient Lord has perfect complete knowledge. He does have physical form but has separated self from the material body. From His heart-type of lake, a river has come out in the form of spiritual preachings and has merged into the ocean of holy scriptures. Therefore, such doctrines are called ultimate truth, encompassing infinite partial points of views. The aspirant souls end up recognising such principles. The foolish wrong faithed persons fail to identify such truth. May such Omniscient knowledge of Arihants be victorious in the universe!
In the Ṇamōkāra mantra, Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam, Jains worship the arihants first and then to the siddhas, even though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas but arihants are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage than siddhas. Since siddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they probably are not directly accessible but may be through the wisdom they passed on. However arihants are accessible for spiritual guidance of human society until their nirvana. The Dravyasaṃgraha, a major Jain text, states:
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