Basic Principles Of Jainism

Author(s): Narayan Lal Kachhara
Publisher: Narayan Lal Kachhara

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are respectively called Darsanavaraniya, Jnanavaraniya, Antaraya and Mohaniya. While the first one obscures the attribute of perception, the second one obscures knowledge, the third one hinders soul's power and obstructs its passage to success; and the fourth one creates a delusion disabling the soul from knowing what is real happiness and what is infatuation. Since these four kinds of karmas obscure each of the supreme attributes of the soul, they are called the ghatiya or destructive Karmas.
The remaining four kinds of karmas do not destroy the qualities of the soul but merely affect its mundane existence: they are Ayus, Naam, Gotra, and Vedniya. The first karma determines the duration of life and other conditions of existence. The second one determines the character of one's personality like the body, height, colour, size etc; the third one determines one's family, heredity, etc., and the fourth one determines the nature of the pleasure and pain that one suffers in mundane life. Since these do not affect the essential attributes of the soul, they are called aghatiya or non-destructive karmas. Thus there are eight kinds of Karmas.
Ghati Karmas
Now it is necessary to find out the causes of each of these karmas so that one may prevent the accumulation of such karmas.
Jnanavaraniya Karma
There are eight types of jnana as mentioned in chapter 7 and five types are obscured by karma. Spite or hatred against knowledge, concealment of knowledge from others, declining or failing to import knowledge due to envy or jealousy, causing obstruction or impediment to others in the acquisition of knowledge, or disparaging true knowledge lead to influx of karmas that obscure knowledge and perception. Since perception precedes comprehension, Acharya Umaswami has used two words Jnana and Darshana together in the concluding part of the Sutra meaning that the causes obscuring jnanavarniya karma also obscure darshanavarniya karma.
Darshanavaraniya Karma
Additional causes of influx of perception obscuring karma are causing injury to eyes and other sensory organs of others, sleeping for abnormal periods, picking faults/shortcomings of others, admiring and supporting false teachers, developing feelings of hatred on seeing saints of other traditions, and developing atheist feelings.
Antaraya
The third destructive karma is Antraya which is responsible for creation of mental conflicts so as to prevent or create a sense of indecision in the individual in performance of beneficent acts conducive to the ethical and spiritual progress of the soul. Antaraya karma is of five kinds; those which obstruct (1) charity or daana, (2) gain or labha, (3) enjoyment or bhoga
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