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thinkers regard citta as sattyātinaka only. They do not consider it to be sattva-rajas-tamasatmaka. They would not hesitate to accept that it is sattva-rajasātniaka from the practical standpoint because they believe that in the transmigratory state it is mixed or interspersed with rajas (material karman atoms); this is the reason why they consider soul (=citta-ātman) -in-transmigratory-state to be kathancit murta. Thus Jainism upholds a clear-cut dualism of sattva and rajas. Material karman atoms are the finest forin of rajas substance, whaereas material objects of the world viz. table, pot etc. are the grossest form of rajas.
Rajas material karman atoms) being what it is must have colours, however fine they may be. Rajas impart colours to citta (sattva) through the process of inter-mixture or interpenetration, Karmans ( =rajas ) in the Yoga as well as in Buddhism are classified into four types on the basis of colours, viz. krsna harmans, sukla karmans, etc. The Jaina conception of leśyā is nothing but the classification of material karman atoms (rajas ) on the basis of colours. The Ajivaka theory of abhijātis is also nothing but the classification of these material karman atoms (rajas) on the basis of colours. The words of Heinrich Zimmer are noteworthy. He says, “The theory of karmic colours is not peculiar to the Jainas, but seems to have been part of the general pre-Aryao inheritance that was preserved in Magadha." 17 17 Philosophies of India, The Bollingen Series XXVI (1953), p. 251.
This paper was presented at the XXVII Session of the All India Oriental Conference held at the Karnataka University, Dharwar, in Nov. 1976.
