________________
Matter
185
Nemiçandra presents the Jaina position in the following pregnant verse:
पुग्गलकम्मादीणं कत्ता ववहारदो दुणिच्चयदो। वेदनकम्माणादा सुद्धणया सुद्धभावाणम् ॥५
द्रव्यसंग्रहः। From the practical or experiential standpoint (Vyavahāra), the soul is the cause of Karma modification. From the imperfectly ontological standpoint (Aśuddha-niśçayanaya), the soul is the cause of its own conscious dispositions (e.g. attachment, aversion etc.). According to the purely metaphysical view (Suddha-niśçaya-naya) it is the cause
of its own pure, essential states”. In other words, if we confine our attention to the essential nature of the soul and of matter, we find that they are never destroyed; the integrity of each is permanent. Hence from this standpoint which is called the suddha-Naya by the Jaina's, the essential nature of both soul and matter remains incorruptible, so that neither of them can enter into an unending and inseparable connection with the other. On the other hand, we know, the soul has its modifications i.e. its subjective states, the Bhāva-Karma's and Karma-matter also, its modes which account for the genesis and growth of various limbs in a body. But even in these cases, we can only say that the soul is the cause of its own states and Karma-matter, of its own modes. This is the position of the Niśçaya-Naya, according to which the modes find their explanation in their own underlying substance and not in anything foreign to it. But our observation shows that the psychical principle and its material embodiment are as a matter of fact closely joined and mixed up; we know that our psychical disposition are conditioned by material and bodily states and the latter also are similarly affected in consonance with the former.
भावो कम्मणिमितो कम्म पुन भावकारणं हवदि। As the author of the Pañçāsti-kāya-samaya-sāra says, We may of course say that the soul is never the UpādānaKāraṇa or the essential basis of matter. We may also say
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org