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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
quiescence and partial elimination of certian energies of Karma, and the manifestation of those traits and attributes which are held in check by their activity. The fourteen Gunasthānas classify these attributes and characteristics consistently with the gradual evolution towards the goal.
The order of the Guņasthānas 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 arduously attained height and can, wholly or partially annul the development achieved till then. This becomes easily comprehensible, if we call to our mind the fact, that remaining on one stage may last only a few minutes, so that in the morning one can be on a high level, sink down from it at noon, and climb up again in the evening. This is an internal and spiritual process, not observed from outside. The different possibilities of the succession of the Guņasthānas are conditional upon the process which leads to the attainment of the samyaktvas and upon the two ways, by which the method of reduction of Karma can be brought about.2
The psychical condition of the soul due to the rising, settling down, perishing, or partly settling down and partly perishing, of Karmic matter (udaya, upasama, kşaya, kşayopaśama) is called Guņasthāna.3 It is a matter of common experience that we come across numerous living beings which belong to different stages of understanding due to ignorance (avidyā). These states are due to the difference in state of existence before the commencement of development. We are often confronted with a situation where some souls are aware of the need to shed the Karmas, while some others have an indistinct vision of the need. An awakening is created only when the soul becomes conscious of what is hindering it in its advancement. There are three things which have to be subdued or eradicated : the mass of Karmas, their intensity and duration. It is the adequacy of of spiritual effort that determines the subsidence of these aspects of the Kamra.
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