In ancient times, Jain practitioners who attained wisdom of the Pūrvas were called śrutakevalīs or “those who have gained omniscience from the scriptures.”
Śrutakevalīs were considered to have reached a level of enlightenment that only one step below the jīnas.
In this sense, śrutikevalīs were comparable to Mahāyāna Buddhist bodhisattvas, who have gained the wisdom of nirvāṇa but choose to postpone their own final nirvāṇa. They remain in the everyday world of saṃsāra in order to help others to attain nirvāṇa first.
One who has reached the level of a śrutivalī or a jīna is one who has gained an understanding of kevala jñāna, or supreme knowledge, and can pass this understanding on to others.