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14
Atmasiddhi
Chapter 12 Guru's Explanation of the Soul bearing
the Consequences (Fourth Fundamental)
Jainism is very specific on one point. Every one has to bear the consequences of his own Karma. That is the universal, inexorable rule. Heavenly beings also cannot escape from that. Even the soul of Lord Mahavir had to live in the lowest infernal level for bearing the consequences of the acutely unwholesome Karma that it had acquired during the life of Triprushta Väsudev. There is no exception to that rule. In order to bring home that truth, Shrimad has observed the following in the Letter of Six Fundamentals (Appendix-II).
"All activities are fruitful; they are not futile. It is the evident experience that whatever is done has its consequence. Consumption of poison or sugar and contact with fire or snow do not fail to produce their consequences. Similarly if the soul indulges in defiled or undefiled mode, that mode is bound to be fruitful and that produces its consequences. Thus being the Karta of such activity, the soul bears the consequences as well."
In the following stanzas, the Guru takes up the points raised by the pupil against the concept of the soul having to bear the consequences and puts his doubts to rest.
ભાવકર્મ નિજ કલ્પના, માટે ચેતનરૂપ; જીવવીર્યની ફુરણા, ગ્રહણ કરે જડધૂપ.
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