Basic Principles Of Jainism

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

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10
GUNA-STHANAS OR FOURTEEN STAGES IN THE
SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION OF SOUL
Since the goal of all ethics and philosophy is to help an individual to attain spiritual excellence or perfection, it is essential to know what hinders him in realizing his ambition. The moral and spiritual discipline prescribed by Jainism involves a graduated course of training and has therefore to be followed step by step. The sages have therefore divided the path which leads to salvation into fourteen stages, each of which represents a particular state of development, condition or phase of the soul, arising from the quiescence, elimination, or partial quiescence and partial elimination of certain energies of karma, and the manifestation of those traits and attributes which are held in check by their activity. The fourteen Gunasthanas classify these attributes and characteristics consistently with the gradual evolution towards the goal.
Guna means the life - force or inspiration of the soul, equanimity, conduct, virility etc. sthana means the higher and lower stages of the purity of these prowesses. These inherent natural gunas are enwrapped by various obstacles in the state of mundane existence. The purity of the gunas here, is lesser or greater in proportion to the rarity and the destruction that they bring about being greater or lesser. In this manner, innumerable types of the higher or lower quantum of the purity of the gunas are possible. They are, in brief, divided into fourteen and these are the gunasthanas. The fourteen gunasthanas are conceived of mainly on the basis of the rarity and destruction of illusory, mohaniya, karma. The illusory karma consists of two prowesses. The function of the first is to cover up the guna of the Atman known as right faith - samyaktva, so that philosophic liking and right vision do not evolve in the soul. The function of the second prowess is to enwrap the quality - guna of the soul known as conduct - charitra. As a result the Atman acquires natural liking and right vision, but is not able to undertake the right activity following this; it is not able to attain to the right self-perspective. The first prowess of illusory karma that obstructs samyaktva- right faith is darshanmohaniya that which eludes right vision and the second is charitramohaniya - that which eludes right conduct. Here, the darshanamohaniya is more powerful of the two, because, the prowess of charitramohaniya is not lessened unless and until the former becomes rare or is destroyed. Once the prowess of darshanamohaniya is minimized, charitramohaniya gets weaker by stages and comes to annihilation in the end. In all the obstacles to karma, the most dominant and the most powerful is the illusory. The reason is that all other coverage, avaranas, remains acute till the power of the mohaniya is acute and with the power of the mohaniya in the decline the power of other avaranas is also on the decline. This is precisely the reason why the conception of gunasthanas is dependent upon the comparison and superiority of the mohaniya karma.
The order of the gunasthanas is logical and not chronological. The succession in which they are to pass differs with each individual, because relapses can throw the jivas down from the
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