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Chapter 12: Guru's Explanation of the Soul Bearing the Consequences
Bhäv Karma Nij Kalpanä, Mäte Chetan Roop; Jivviryani Sfuranä, Grahan Kare Jad Dhoop.
The tendency to react is a propensity of the soul and is therefore conscious; the vibrations in the soul's vigor cause the
lifeless particles to penetrate within.
Explanation & Discussion:
The major question that normally arises in the minds of thinking people is: "How can lifeless particles of Karma be attached to the conscious soul?" This stanza is meant to explain that. Implicit in the concept of intangibility is that the soul is not capable of doing anything tangible. It can merely remain aware of what happens. But it is capable of inclination, because inclination and disinclination are intangible. In the perfected state, the soul does not have any inclination. The worldly soul, by virtue of its ignorance, is used to being inclined or disinclined towards different objects and situations. Such inclination or propensity, though not inherent in the soul, is a conscious property and is therefore known as Bhäv Karma.
If the soul does not have any inclination towards situations arising as a result of its previous Karma, it would not give rise to Bhäv Karma. By virtue of its inclination the Bhäv Karma arises, and that leads to likes or dislikes for the situations concerned. The soul's vigor is thereby directed towards or against such situations. In other words, it indulges in craving or aversion and that leads the Karma particles to infiltrate. That is known as material or Dravya Karma. That phenomenon can also be presented by saying that Bhäv Karma causes vibrations within a soul, and those vibrations attract the Karma particles
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