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108
Tattvartha Sutra
Until when? And on what principle is the time dimension of the non-nourishing state based?
Even those who believe in the expansive nature of the soul need to reflect on these five questions, as they too must eventually acknowledge the transition of the subtle body and the movement through the interstice for rebirth; however, Jain practitioners, who consider themselves to be embodied souls, must indeed ponder these questions. This reflection has been systematically presented here as follows:
The transitions (states) are of two types: direct (ṛju) and crooked (vakra). A being moving through direct movement does not have to make new efforts, because when it sheds a previous body, it receives the momentum from that previous body; thus, it reaches the new location straightforwardly, like an arrow shot from a bow. The other type of movement is crooked. A being traveling through this crooked path has to make new efforts because the momentum generated by the previous body only works up to the point where the being has to turn; as soon as it reaches the point of turning, the previous body's momentum diminishes, thus necessitating new efforts from the subtle body, which is present with the being at that time. This effort arising from the subtle body is called 'kāma yāga'. Hence, the sutra states that in the movement of being (vigraha), only the effort from the subtle body is valid. In summary, a being moving through crooked movement cannot reach a new location merely with the momentum from the previous body; a new effort must be made through the causal - subtle - body, as at that moment it must...