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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
to render me help.” The spirit understood the situation. He simply wanted to test him, so he helped him to lift up the heap of logs and disappeared. This means that even in pitiable condition, man does not choose death. Age has two varieties : (1) Interfered (Rupa Karma) (2) Non-interfered (Nirupa Karma).
Former variety of age is cut off due to any accident caused through weapon, poison or fire etc. and the latter variety of age is not thus cut off.
Animals and human beings live the life with interference of course with some exception. Animals with indefinite number of years to live, Yugalika beings, beings to be emancipated in the very life, and Shalākā purusha i.e. Tirthankaras, Chakravarties, Baludevas, Vasudevas and Protivasudevas, enjoy the life non-interfered.
We shall now explain to you how the soul contracts four types of ages mentioned before.
If a soul indulges into various activities, acquires and hoards many things, and acts violently then it contracts hellish age. Here activity means passionate activity which oppresses other beings and acquiring and hoarding mean accumulating means of various enjoyments. In the present times, tendency of such activities prevail in full swing. What conclusion can we draw from such tendency? If a soul practises deceit, then it contracts the life of an animal. Deceit means cheating, fraud, crookedness, hypocrisy and selfishness. If a soul has limited range of activities, limited accumulation, straightforward nature, then it contracts human age. Here limited range of activity means limited acts of violence, limited accumulation and straightforwardness with mild nature meaning compassionate nature.
If a soul observes self-restraint with some desire or observes partial restraint, or annihilates its Karmas with some desire and observes minor penances, it contracts the age of a celestial being. Here self-restraint with some desire means that the conduct before all sorts of passions are dissolved. Partial aversion for worldly affairs is called Partial restraint. Minor penance is the penance practised without perfect knowledge. This means if a person observes self-restraint and other religious rites without properly understanding their significance then also he contracts the age of a celestial being.
