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LESSON 13
BONDAGE By nature soul is pure, that is, totally free from karmic matter. But in its present state it is bound with karmic matter. Hence, before describing its pure state, i.e. liberation, we describe, in this lesson, its impure state i.e. bondage.
Bondage here means interpenetration of the spacepoints of the soul and the particles of karmic matter like the interpenetration of the smallest units of milk and water.
The soul is by nature pure, unsullied by the karmic matter. Then what caused its bondage with matter for the first time ? In other words, when it first came to be mixed with karmic matter and what urged it to get mixed with karmic matter ?
The answer to these questions is that it is bound with karmic matter from the beginningless time. Our present state of impurity is beginningless.
Karmic material particles are classified into eight fundamental types.
Name of the type
Illustration
Which quality(of the the soul) obstructed
It veils and obscures soul's faculty of knowledge.
Like a bandage on the eyes
1 Jñanavaraniya
karma (knowledgeobscuring karmic
matter.) 2 Darsañavaraniya
karma(Intuitionobscuring karmic matter.)
It veils and obscures soul's faculty of intuitive vision.
Like a door keeper of the king
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