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Karmabandh Krodhädithi, Hane kshamädic Teh; Pratyaksha Anubhav Sarvane, Emän Sho Sandeh?
The bondage of Karma arising from anger, etc. can be destroyed by forgiveness, etc. That is the evident experience of every one; how can there be any doubt about it? (104)
Explanation & Discussion:
The pupil had raised the question as to how infinitely prevailing Karmas can be uprooted. One should remember that though the worldly soul has been bound with Karmas since the infinity, there is not a single Karma that prevails infinitely. The bondage of Karma has a time limit and is stripped off after extending the consequences. But while bearing such consequences the worldly soul happens to acquire new karma and the bondage continues. If one does not acquire new Karma, the old Karmas will be extinguished on their own after availing the consequences.
The Guru here points out how the character-related deluding Karma can be overcome. The impact of that Karma is experienced in the form of defilement, which is termed as Kashäy. Craving (Räg) and aversion (Dwesh) are the two basic Kashäys. Jain tradition classifies them in four categories of anger, arrogance, deception, and greed. They can be overcome by developing the opposite attributes. Anger can be overcome by forgiveness, arrogance by modesty, deception by straightforwardness, and greed by contentment. Thus the surest way to overcome those passions is to resort to the opposite attributes.
Some people may doubt whether those Kashäys can be effectively overcome by developing the above mentioned attributes. For explaining their effectiveness let us take the instance of anger, which includes the sense of jealousy, animosity, vengeance, ferocity, etc. It generally arises when we find someone not behaving properly or something not happening to our expectation. But becoming angry on that account cannot serve any purpose.
Instead of that, if we forgive the person concerned and calmly explain how he was wrong, he may realize his mistake and may remain careful not to repeat it. When we become angry, not only may we hurt the person with whom we might be angry, but we hurt ourselves also by defiling our mind. We lose our own peace of mind and feel unhappy. If one realizes that much, it would not be hard for him to practice forgiveness. Similarly it is possible to overcome ego and arrogance by developing modesty, deception by straightforwardness, and greed by contentment.
Chhodi Mat Darshantano, Agrah Tem Vikalpa;
