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when he said that every one who looked at a woman with lust was as guilty as if he had committed adultery with her. This is made perfectly clear by the principle of asrava (influx), which need not be discussed over again.
With respect to bandha, it must be fully evident now that no outside agency is needed to fasten the coils of servitude on the soul. The fruit of action is secured to its author directly it is performed, and the process is carried on all along throughout life. There is no room for the interference of a superhuman magistrate or judge in this, even if one could be found able to perform and willing to be bothered by such a bootless duty or task for all eternity. The argument that because our karmas are jarha, that is unintelligent, therefore, they cannot themselves determine the punishment or reward which is deserved by us, is altogether unscientific and devoid of force; for in the realm of the natural law such determination is not dependent on an adjudication by a magistrate or judge, but on the properties of substances. The man who lies is punished by nature with as unerring judgment as he who puts his hand on fire, or he who sitting on the trunk of a tree cuts down its root. If the award of punishment in the last two cases be the result of the decree of a god, sitting, with the scales of justice in his hands, in some high heaven or other, and constantly engaged in determining the reward and punishment of living beings, he must be deemed to be guided in the discharge of his judicial function by the scientist who can tell beforehand the precise consequences of these acts. And, if it be a fact that the reward and punishment in these cases are not
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