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INTRODUCTION
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papa
It is said that just as fetters of both gold and iron have the effect of binding a person, thereby making him dependent, so also both punya and are the condition (hetu) or the auxiliary (nimitta) cause (karana) in making the self dependent. Thus, there appears nothing special between the two, yet there is difference between them due to one (punya) being the nimitta of desirable or favourable (ishta) effect (phala) and the other (papa) of undesirable or harmful effect (anishta phala). That which is the condition (hetu) of desirable or favourable condition of existence (gati), genus, caste or class of being (jati), body (sharira), the objects of senses (indriya vishaya) is punya. And that which is the hetu of undesirable gati, jati, body and the objects of senses is papa. Thus, there is difference between punya: and papa.41
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As a result of punya, one is endowed with thirteen qualities including prosperity, health, family and friends, devotion to triple jewels of enlightened view, knowledge and conduct, control of senses, etc." Thus, punya is desirable not only for the success in the worldly life but also for the attainment of liberation. In this context, Vidyananda remarks: "The attainment of liberation also (api) is possible by the supremely excellent punya and the effort (purushartha) for distinctive conduct pertaining to enlightened view, knowledge and conduct." (Akalanka's Ashta-shati commentary on Samantabhadra, Apta-Mimansa, p. 257.)
Shubha (punya) has a double or two-fold role: it has binding effect and for that reason considered undesirable from the perspective of shuddha (pure), which is the direct cause of liberation, and to be given up. At the same time, it plays a significant role in getting rid of the impurity of evil (ashubha or papa) and has purifying (vishuddhi) effect (PS 155, 180 AC), and as such regarded a helpful factor in the liberation of soul, in the same way as soap is helpful in cleaning the dirt of the cloth. And just as, for the whiteness of the cloth the presence of soap is unnecessary and is also to be removed or separated, so also in the pure state, punya is unnecessary and is also to be given up. But as the soap cleans the dirt and, after cleaning the dirt, gets itself separated, in the same way punya also is helpful in getting rid of the dirt of the impurity of evil (papa) and after papa is gotten rid of and purity is realized, punya itself is also given up.
Explaining the role and contribution of shubha, Akalanka Deva further points out:
