________________
183
divine revelation. All knowledge is, as Numenius. said, the kindling of the small light from the great light which illumines the world. Later Logos gets entirely personified. Origen teaches that God begets the eternal Son, the Logos, as the sum-total of his world-thoughts, and through him the realm of free Spirits, which, liinited within itself, surrounds the deity as an ever-living garment.
I have given the above illustration simply for confirming the idea that a word, with advancing
vilization developes in meaning. I need not go into the discussion of the various meanings that were attached to Karma at different periods of its history. My present purpose is only to present to the readers a coinplete view of the subject of Karma as the Jains have understood it. What is Karma? Before answering this question, it will be necessary to know what the philosophical veiw of the Jains is in regard to the Cosmos. They teach that the total reality koown as the Cos:nos had 10 beginning and will have 30 end. More corretly speaking, the Cosmos did not come out of nothing and will never be annihilated. The substance, in the abstract sesnse, of the Cosmos is permanent; its activities are changing every moment. If Reality ineans the highest generalized idea we can from of whatever we come to know, it is the Being, Esse. It being the most abstract idea, it is not divisible. We may
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
