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This is a hint. According to this view, when ultimate karma-nivṛtti is desired, it had to be explained as the real cause of the origin of karma against the view of the first group. It said that the root cause of dharma and adharma is not the prevailing social laws and prohibitions, but ignorance and raga-dvesha. Even if the conduct is refined, accepted and prescribed by society, if it is based on ignorance and raga-dvesha, then it gives rise to adharma. The distinction between punya and papa is for those who have a gross vision. In reality, since punya and papa are all based on ignorance and raga-dvesha, they are both adharma and despicable. This nivṛttakadharma group was not social but individualistic. When it accepted the annihilation of karma and moksha as the purpose of life, it had to consider the causes that annihilate karma and generate moksha. As a result of this consideration, the causes that it established as karma-nivṛttak are the nivṛttakadharma of this group.
The direction of pravṛttakadharma and nivṛttakadharma are completely opposite to each other. The aim of one is to protect the social order and create good order, while the aim of the other is to achieve personal inner happiness, therefore it is only self-oriented. Nivṛttakadharma is known by names like śramaṇa, parivājaka, tapasvī and yogamārga etc. Since karma-pravṛtti is born of ignorance and raga-dvesha, the means of its ultimate cessation was established as samyak-jñāna, which is opposed to ignorance, and samyama, which is in the form of raga-dvesha-nāśa, which is opposed to raga-dvesha. The rest of the means, such as tapas, dhyāna, bhakti etc., were considered as means of the said knowledge and samyama.
There were many factions among the followers of nivṛttakadharma. This factionalism was partly due to the aggressive nature of the arguments and partly due to the different processes of epistemology. Three factions seem to be known: (1) Paramāṇunādī, (2) Pradhānavādī, (3) Paramāṇu but with the shadow of Pradhāna. Of these, the first, the Paramāṇuvādī, although supporting moksha, was not as opposed to pravṛttakadharma as the latter two. This faction became known as Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika darśana. The second faction, the Pradhānavādī, being a supporter of ultimate karma-nivṛtti, also considered pravṛttakarma, i.e. śrauta-smārta karma, to be despicable.