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VIII
THE 14 GUNASTHĀNAS Explanation of the gunasthānas Kg. I, 56a, Ps. 40 seq., Lp. III, 1131 seq.; duration Ps. 181 seq.; mārganāsthānas Kg. I, 81b seq., Ps. 100; upayoga Kg. I, 147a, Ps. 90 ; yoga Kg. I, 145b, Ps. 88; leśyā Kg. I, 148b; jīvasthānas Kg. I, 97b; bandhahetavaḥ Kg. I, 151a seq.; bandha, udaya, sattā Kg. I, 63a seq. II, 168b seq. .
All that has previously been said will be recapitulated and amplified in the following analysis of the gunasthānas. We see once more the different species of jīvas in their dependence upon karman, and in their states and qualities produced thereby; we follow the manner in which, by degrees, they deliver themselves from the fatal effects of matter and accompany them up to the moment of their complete liberation from karman. The procedure followed in the description of the different stages corresponds to that followed in the description of the forms of the existence. I commence with a short characteristic of each state and continue with a survey of the upayogas, yogas, leśyās, as well as of the species of belief and conduct, which are possible in beings who are in the respective guṇasthānas. Thereafter follows a survey of the causes of binding and of the karmans which can exist in this stage in bandha, udaya, sattā, as well as of those which are eliminated when the gunasthāna is left. In most of the cases I could restrict myself to a simple enumeration, as the Kgs. only seldom offer arguments, and where this happens, the reason generally follows from the definition of the respective karman. With regard to that which will be said concerning sattā, I must observe that I confine myself only to the most important. Still many other possibilities are suggesting themselves here (e.g., that someone possesses already ksāyika-sam yaktva and then ascends the upaśama-śreni) which the reader can easily find for himself. About the sthiti-, rasa- and bradeśa-bandha, I need not make any detailed statements, as the little that the Kgs. offer concerning their maximum and minimum, follows from the principle explained in chapter II, 2-4. I only recall the fact that in the gunasthānas which lie beyond the cutting of the “knot", a sthiti above sāgaro pamāntah kotikotis cannot be bound, and that with the elimination of the kasāyas the binding of sthiti and rasa ceases entirely : the passionless one binds only momentary karman which is without intensity (comp. Tatty. II, 5).
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