Atma Dharma

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Page 29

( 22 ) (causal) or kârmâna sarira (karmic body), and is a very fine, invisible ethereal fabric underlying the gross physical body of matter. It is this inner ethereal vestment of the soul which is the source of our troubles, for in it and through it are developed those powerful forces of evil which rob us of our exalted divine attributes and curtail our godly powers. These powers, however, are never destroyed, though their suspension is more or less complete, according to the quality and quantity of the power-robbing material actually in union with the soul. As gold always remains pure gold, notwithstanding that it may be embedded within a thick coating of mud, so is the soul never actually deprived of its natural attributes, however much it might be loaded with impurities. And as a white cloth that has been discoloured by the contact of dirt always regains its spotless purity by washing, so does the soul attain to its inborn glory the moment it is rid of the unholy material filth adhering to it on account of its evil karmas.
The wise always know the soul to be distinct and separate from matter and from the modifications due to the influence of matter. As the expert eye at a glance recognises the precious gem even in its unhewn crude state so does he who is gifted with discrimination, distinguish the living divinity even when lying buried beneath deposits