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149
Ätmasiddhi
inward and get attached to the soul. In other words, one's Bhäv Karma leads to the bondage of Dravya Karma.
Inclination or disinclination arises by the consciousness getting involved with the mental apparatus. Most worldly souls behave instinctively. This means that the soul loses its vigor to the extent of such instinctive behavior. It is therefore easy for the mind to drag consciousness the way it likes. In the case of spiritual aspirants too, when their mind exercises too much force, the consciousness may fail to exercise enough countervailing spiritual force to withstand it, and may remain subservient to it. The mind is thus primarily responsible for the acquisition of Karma. Therefore, during the spiritual pursuit, the emphasis rests on overcoming mental defilement, regardless of whether that actually leads to physical acts or not.
The anecdote of King Prasenjit is relevant here. On listening to Lord Mahavir's discourse, he gained detachment from worldly life. Hence entrusting the interests of his young son to his trusted counselors, he became a monk. In that capacity, once while meditating, he happened to hear from passers-by that he was a fool to entrust the interests of his son to the said counselors, who were conspiring to kill him and to take over the throne (kingdom). Thereby, he got concerned about the well being of his son. By thinking about the disloyalty of his counselors, he became so agitated that he forgot his state of monkhood and his mind became engrossed in fighting against those conspirators. Slowly, he reached a height of rage that would have led him to hell, if he had died at that moment. Of course, he turned back from those evil thoughts and overcame those defilements with deep repentance, and attained omniscience. This story emphasizes that the mental state prevailing from time to time makes all the difference.
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