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MAHĀVĪRA : HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS
The third term or category is bandha or bondage of soul. Bondage is the subjection of soul to the laws of birth and death, old age and decay, pleasure and pain, and other vicissitudes of life brought about by the effect of karma The soul which is the fifth of the five astıkāyas represents the principle of intelligence The characteristic of soul is knowledge, faith, conduct, austerities, energy, and realization of its developments.' 1
The categories of merit (punya) and demerit (pāpa) comprehend all acts or deeds, pious and sinful, which keep the soul bound to the circle of births and deaths 2
Aśrava is that which causes the soul to be affected by sins, and samvara is the principle of self-control by which the influx of sins is checked or stopped The category of samvara comprehends the whole sphere of right conduct.
Nırjarā consists in the wearing out of accumulated effects of karına on the soul by the practice of austerities, and moksa which logically follows from nirgarā signifies the final deliverance of the soul from the bondage of karma, the bondage of sin. Siddhi or perfection is just the other aspect of liberation
1 Uttarādhyayana, XXVIII, II
? Ibid , XXXI, 3
