Basic Principles Of Jainism

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

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influx of karmas which lead to birth in a low status. There are many people who are blind to good qualities and virtues in others. They boast of themselves as the paragons of virtue and indulge in undue praise of themselves. Censuring others is a vice, vain gloriousness is equally so. On the other hand, the opposite qualities like modesty, humility and appreciating what is noble in others, etc. cause influx of karmas which lead to birth in a family of high status. Saluting the virtuous is humility, Modesty, in spite of learning, wealth and power, discloses absence of egotism and haughtiness.
Vedaniya Karma
The fourth kind of aghati karma is called vedaniya karma which determines the painful and pleasurable experiences of an individual. The two karmas which cause pleasant feeling and unpleasant feeling, respectively, are the two sub-types of feeling producing karmas, satavedaniya, and asata-vedaniya.
Sata-vedaniya karma is the result of influx of karma which creates pleasant and happy experience both in mind and body. The activities which lead to the influx of this Karma as stated by Umasvami are: compassion towards living beings in general and the devout in particular, charity, asceticism but with attachment, etc., contemplation, equanimity and lack of greed. All living beings are born in different conditions of existence according to their Karmas. There are some who become aware of the nature of soul and become devoted to vows, austerities and other acts of compassion. They reduce their worldly attachment and are generous in helping others. They express sympathy for the sufferings of others and do what they can to relieve them. They restrain themselves from undesirable activities. All these activities of mind and conduct lead to the influx of Karmas that bring about pleasant feelings.
The Asata-vedaniya karmas which are the cause of unpleasant or painful feelings are due to suffering, sorrow, agony, moaning, injury and lamentation in oneself, others or in both. All these experiences of pain and suffering are the results of passions like anger, greed, etc. They create a feeling of sadness because of want of self control, injury to person or property, disgrace suffered by immoral deeds or speech and cravings for things which are either undesirable or unwanted. There is no suffering where there is no passion. Many austerities are practiced by devout persons: they involve no suffering because they are undertaken voluntarily as acts of self- purification. There is no evil object behind it and the mind is full of calm and balance. A surgeon causes pain but his object is to cure the patient from the disease so as to free him from pain and further suffering.
These are the eight kinds of karmas which infect the purity of the soul and obscure all or some of its inherent qualities. They are like foreign forces changing the direction of the course of the soul, and leading to entanglement in worldly existence. They are the real causes of ignorance, suffering, and shortcoming in life and inequalities in status. Our mind, speech and body are the real causes of their influx.
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