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AN EPITOME OF JAINISM.
knowledge and Right conduct without which swaraj, self rule or autonomy i.e., the fulfilment of the destiny of the jiva as taught in the Jain philosophy becomes an impossibility.
Such being the high and prominent place
Complexity
tion.
of classifica- held by the Doctrine of Karma in the evolution of humanity, we are naturally led to enquire into the classification of Karma. But the complexity of divisions and subdivisions as minutely detailed in the Jain philosophy in the most elaborate manner defy the most subtle psychological analysis. It may well be compared to the gigantic banian tree which has been growing on steadily through the revolutions of ages and empires in such a form that its original trunk now defies the research of the investi gators who approach it for the first time. If any stranger who is unaccustomed to walk in the wood-way paths of dense-forest, wills to do so, he is sure to be bewildered and disheartened by the very sight of its labyrinthian complications. And therefore to make the subject more easy of approach we shall begin with the most simple and general classification in the following manner :
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