________________
826
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
ately, there is but little correspondence between them. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that the Vedantic conception of these bodies is not characterised by that scientific precision and accuracy of thought which is a distinguishing feature of Jainism. Practically, no information is forthcoming about the kårana śarira, but the sûk shma is said to consist of five
seed'-organs of knowledge, five similar organs of action, the root-cause of mind, and the elements of the five kinds of activities of prâna, i.e., the functions of exhaling, inhaling, digestion, evacuation and circulation generally. No doubt, these functions cannot belong to the sthủla sarîra (the gross body), for that body is not the starting point of life ; but they cannot likewise be rooted in the súkshma sarira, but in the very first vestment or sheatlı, whatever it be called, the karmâna or kôrana or any thing else. Furthermore, as every living being does not possess all the five senses and the organ of mind (dravya mana), the sûkshma sarîras of different beings cannot be said to be identically the same in all cases. But Vedanta makes no distinction between the sûkshma šarîras of different beings, and knows of no difference with respect to them.
There are three bodies of the soul in Vedanta, but five according to Jainism. The former recognizes the karana, the sukshma and the sthúla śarîras alone, but the latter adds two more to them. These two additional bodies, however, do not always accompany the soul. To explain this difference of opinion, we give the description of these five bodies below.
(1) The kârınâna, which, as already described, is
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org