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GUNA-STHANAS
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activity cannot be split up into two parts just as it is not possible to separate the sugar juice from the curds when both are mixed together. This mixed stage is wavering, impure and unsteady; it is however a cause of the destruction of Karmas. In the mixed stage, there is no bondage of age-karma because death is due to the age-karma already " binding the soul and re-birth in a particular state is already bound to the soul when it is born. 4
4) Avirata Samyaktva (vowless right belief)
The soul in this stage possesses right faith and also knowledge of truth and falsehood; but it is not capable of observing the vows (rules of self-discipline) due to the operation of partial-vow preventing passions (apratyakhyānåvarana kaşāya). The right faith in this stage is of three kinds : i) Upasama samyaktva : it may arise in a soul, which had never any right belief before, as a result of the four passions which create erroneous beliefs and wrong beliefs. Right faith may awaken after it had become deluded as a result of the Karmas. It might as well be that a soul has already right belief and may advance further by destroying the kinds of Karmas as are responsible for beliefs of the kinds mentioned in the first three stages. It is possible that a soul may slip down to the three lower stages for one antara muhūrta; if there is no fall, it might advance to the second kind of right belief. ii) This is called Kșayopama-samyaktva. This is a stage where the operation of right faith is slightly clouded by wrong belief, as at the third stage. The four passions are practically destroyed and are in partial subsidence. ii) Ksāyika samyaktva : This stage of right belief arises as a result of the destruction of the four kinds of passions and the deluding Karmas. This is the best kind of right belief and the soul which acquires it must progress further.
In this stage, the soul has faith in the mokşa-mārga i. e., one's spiritual career, culminating into liberation, complete freedom from Karma, but is not able to pursue it observing all the rules of discipline. It believes in the doctrines propounded by the Jaina scriptures but is sometimes affected by wrong instructions of ignorant teachers. Such a soul recovers from the wrong
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