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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
soul. Karma, therefore, is a kind of force which compels the soul to bear the consequences of its good or bad actions ; and this force originates in the very action itself and at the very moment of its performance.
Every action affects the doer as much as it does another, though the effects of it may differ in the two cases. The other may, in some cases, be not affected at all, but the doer is always affected by his acts. The result of the expenditure of energy on another is generally visible, but not so its effect on one's own self. In the latier case, the invisible kûrmûna body (a sort of inner vestment of the soul) is directly affected, for good or evil, by the energy spent in the performance of the act. The effect of such action on the hârmâna sarira is a change of the complexion of the soul, which determines its future liability to particular actions and experiences. In plain language, the effect of such action is the creation of new tendencies and inclinations, or the confirmation of some old and deeply-rooted habits. Karma, thus, is a force which binds the soul to the consequences of its good and bad actions.
True to nature as the Jaina philosophy throughout is, it recognizes the different kinds of karmas as so many forces (karma-prakritis) which, operating on the soul, tie it down hand and foot, and constitute its destiny. They are conceived as material in their nature, inasmuch as there can be no such thing as an immaterial force...
In subjection to its karmas the soul is like a balloon which is kept from rising up in the air by the weight of heavy sand bags tied to it by means of ropes. As the balloon cannot ascend up in the air as long as the sand
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