________________
main cause of bondage of auspicious or inauspicious karmic matter with soul is mental activity.
Stoppage of the Inflow of Karmic Matter (Samvara) For the stoppage of the inflow of karmic matter into a soul, the Sanskrit word Samvara is used. It is formed from two words i.e. 'sam' and 'vr' meaning to stop, to prevent'. Highly spiritual states of the soul, causing control & restraint of the mental, vocal and bodily activities, effect the stoppage of the inflow of karmic matter.
The Sanskrit term 'asrava' is derived from the verbal root 'sr' meaning 'to ooze', prefixed with the preposition 'a'. Hence, it means the inflow of the karmic matter into the soul, or the activities through which this inflow takes place. And the prevention of the inflow is called 'samvara'. The higher the spiritual stage, the thinner is the inflow of karmic matter. The greater the cessation of the inflow of karmic matter, the higher is the spiritual plane attained by the soul.
Bondage of the Karmic Matter with Soul (Bandha) Bondage is of the nature of interpenetration of karmic matter and soul like the interpenetration of milk & water in a mixture of the two. The karmic matter gets stuck to the soul due to its unctuousness of attachment, aversion & delusion. Now arises a question: why must a naturally 'dry' i.e. pure soul come to acquire an adventitious unctuousness of the passions of attachment and aversion?
Can we say that the soul has got this attachment at a certain point of time? If yes, it would mean that the soul was pure and pristine state earlier. If we accept that a pure soul began to assume impure states then why must even the liberated souls not be infected the impurities of attachment? Absence of clear answers proves that the impure states have not started at some point of time but are beginning less. The impure states of attachment & aversion are not natural to the soul in the sense that they depend on karma. This is because they rise in the soul bound with karmic matter. And this state of bondage is also beginning less. Interesting na.
How can that which has no beginning have an end? Karmas covering the soul are like dust covering the glass. When the dust is removed the glass shines so also when karmic impurities are removed from the soul, it shines with pure light of sentience.
From this we cannot say that first the soul was alone and only afterwards karma came into existence. Neither can we say that first karma was alone and afterwards the soul came into existence. This is impossible because it would imply that the soul is destructible and also because the existence of karma is impossible without the soul. Thus the only alternative is that both the soul and karma are bound together from the beginning less time.
Types of soul's activities govern the types of karmas (karmic matter). In the Jaina scriptures eight basic type of karmas as enumerated above. Soul in its real nature is the
