Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
1. The name of the fundamental meanings is the indication of manifestation. However, some souls depend on external causes for their manifestation while others do not. One person learns an art such as craftsmanship with the help of a teacher or similar assistance, while another learns by themselves without anyone's help. Despite the internal cause being the same, the present sutra distinguishes between two types of right perception: natural right perception and acquired right perception, regarding the expectation and non-expectation of external causes. External causes can also be of various types. Some attain right perception through the observation of religious objects such as idols, some through the teachings of a guru, some through reading and listening to scriptures, and some through association with the virtuous.
In the flow of the world from beginningless time, a capable soul experiences various kinds of suffering. At times, an extraordinary purification of results occurs within such a soul. This extraordinary purification is called “apūrvakaraṇa.” The intensity of attachment and aversion that obstructs the insistence upon reality (the insistence on truth) is eliminated by this apūrvakaraṇa. As soon as the intensity of attachment and aversion diminishes, the soul becomes alert to the truth. This spiritual awakening is righteousness (samyaktva).
2. The name of fundamental meanings describes the essence of living beings, the non-living, influx, bondage, restraint, shedding, and liberation.
In many texts, nine elements are described by combining merit and sin, but here, by including both merit and sin within the influx or bondage element, only seven elements are stated. This should be understood in the following way: merit and sin are both of two kinds in terms of substance and perception. The substance of auspicious karmic matter is merit, and the substance of inauspicious karmic matter is sin. Therefore, the substance of merit and sin is included within the bondage element because the connection of karmic matter with the soul or the relationship between the soul and karmic matter specifically constitutes the substance of bondage. The cause of substance merit is auspicious determination, which is the merit of perception, and the cause of substance sin is inauspicious determination, which is the sin of perception—both of these are included in the bondage element.
1. For clarity on the process of origin, see the second Karmagrantha, p. 7, and the fourth Karmagrantha, introduction, p. 13.
2. In Buddhist philosophy, the four noble truths are suffering, origin, cessation, and path; in Samkhya and Yoga philosophy, the fourfold structure includes the undesirable, its cause, destruction, and means of destruction, which is referred to as “arthapada” in Nyaya philosophy. In Jain philosophy, five elements from influx to liberation are well-known.