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DISCOURSE XXII
EIGHT KARMAS
Gentlemen!
The great men firmly affirm that soul is the great God (Great Soul). This means that if the faculties of soul are perfectly manifested it becomes "the great soul" itself. God is not a distinct entity apart from sou).
The question arises why the faculties or the powers of soul are not manifested in their entirety. The reply is: 'The soul is obscured by material Karma. This Karma subdues the intrinsic nature of soul, and so the powers of soul remain unmanifested'. 1
We have explained to you what is Karma, what are its powers and how they obscure the soul. Now we are proceeding with the eight-fold Karmas. Four out of them have been already explained and the rest four will be explained today.
AGE-DETERMINING KARMA (Ayushya-Karma) That is age-determining-Karma which confines the soul in a particular period of time. This Karma can be compared with a prison in which a thief has to be confined till the termination of the sentence. In the same manner the soul has to stay in a particular body till the age contracted by it is terminated.
This age-determining Karma has four sub-species (1) Celestial Age (Dev-Ayusha) (2) Human age (Manuashya Ayusha) (3) Age of animal life (Tiriyanch Ayusha) (4) Age of Hellish beings (Narak Ayusha)
Celestial age Karma imparts the birth to the soul in heaven and the soul enjoys the age of celestial being. If the Karmas are for the human world such soul lives the life of a human being. The Karma of animal age is responsible for the soul produced as an animal and that soul lives the life as an animal. Here, the word animal not only includes animals moving on ground, sky or water but also includes animals with one sense, two senses, three senses, four senses and five senses.
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