Basic Principles Of Jainism

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

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excessive attachment to various objects in the universe. Constant cruel activities and misappropriation of other's property due to excessive attachment to material possessions are the causes of this karma.
Deceitfulness causes the influx of life-karma leading to the animal and vegetable worlds. Deceitful disposition of the soul is the result of conduct-deluding karma that leads to birth in the animal world. The preaching of religion from a perverted attitude, lack of good conduct and propriety, desire for cheating others, blue and grey lesya, thought-colouration, during death are the varieties of deceitful conduct giving rise to life-karma leading to the tiryancha gati, animal life.
Slight injury, slight attachment and natural mildness in character are the cause of lifekarmas that lead to human life. Humility, gentle disposition, excellent behaviour, slight passion, freedom from distressful disposition at death, gentleness by nature are some of the causes that are responsible for the karma leading to human birth. In other worlds, compassion, kindness, love, affection, honesty and truthfulness may be mentioned as some of the characteristics that lead to this life - karma.
Right belief, restraint from attachment, self-restraint mixed with laxity, liberation from the karmas in an involuntary manner, austerities attended with perverted faith cause the influx of life karmas leading to heavenly birth. Self-restraint is the key to purity of conduct and thought. It often happens with some people that when they are fully restrained in their mind and speech, they are disturbed by indecision. People observe austerities under wrong beliefs. Added to it, is the right faith. Since right faith is mentioned separately, it appears that by itself it is sufficient to cause the influx of life-karma leading to heavenly birth.
Naam Karma
It is this karma that determines the kind of character of the body in which a soul will be embodied. We have already noticed that a soul is born in any of the four states of existences, heavenly beings, human, sub-human and infernal. Naturally there will be differences in the nature of the body, its size, colour, height. The naam karma is primarily of two kinds, pinda - prakriti or physical or concrete qualities, and apinda prakriti or non-physical qualities, referring to working and prestige of the body.
Naam Karma is an extremely interesting principle, almost anticipating many elements of the modern biological theory. Modern biology tries to explain the origin and growth of an organism postulating the enzymes and genes, microscopic factors which determine the growth of the organic body. Similarly the theory of naam karma formulated by the Jaina thinkers thousands of years ago tried to explain many of the biological problems such as, the difference between one genus and other genus of organisms, the bodily structure as vertebrate or invertebrate, the different methods of bone joints in the body, the systematical arrangements of the members in the structure of the sensory organs in the body, etc. All these factors are
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