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pure Existence, the pure Sentience and the pure Bliss. But on account of the coverings of these eight types of karmas, its original nature is not manifested. 8 basic types of karma:
1. Knowledge-covering karma - cover's souls faculty of knowledge. The lesser this karma the more developed is the intellect and vice sa versa. Thus, intellectual diversity noticed in the world is due to the different degrees of subsidence or elimination of the karmic matter of this type. When the karmic matter of this type is eliminated from the soul, the faculty of knowledge manifests in perfection - is called omniscience.
2. Vision-covering karma - covers the soul's faculty of vision. There is not much of a difference between knowledge & vision. The initial cognition that grasps the object concerned in a generic form is given the name vision (darsana). It is like cognition that a man has an object when he sees it from a distance. And the cognition, which, arising in the wake of the vision, grasps that very object in a specific form is given the name of knowledge (jnana). Sleep, blindness are the fruits of this karma.
3. Feeling-producing karma, producing ever-changing experiences of happiness & unhappiness through sense organs and mind.
4. Deluding karma generates delusion in the soul with regard to wife, son, friend and the things it likes. This karma generates attachment and aversion towards worldly objects. Blinded by this karma it looses its buddhi or intellect meaning the power to discriminate between the right and the wrong. It is like a drunken man under the influence of liquor. Of the eight karmas, this plays a leading role in blurring and perverting all knowing all seeing pure nature of the soul. This karma is of two types - one that obstructs soul's natural inclination towards what is real & good, and the other that hampers its good and wholesome conduct.
5. Longevity-determining karma has four types according to the longevity of celestial beings, of human beings, of animal beings and of internal beings. A man whose legs are bound in chains cannot move to another place. So also a soul who is bound with a particular longevity-karma cannot transmigrate to another birth till it has not fully enjoyed that determined longevity of the present birth.
6. Body-making karma has many types & sub-types. In short, on this karma depends the beauty or ugliness of the body, good or bad bodily structure, fair or dark complexion etc. Again on account of this karma, the soul is born in one of the four main species i.e. gods, humans, animals and hell-beings and in one of the five classes of beings referred to earlier. On account of auspicious karmas the soul acquires god body and vice sa versa.
7. Status-determining karma is divided into two sub-types i.e. higher and lower status determining.
8. Obstructive karma puts obstacles in soul's efforts to achieve various objectives. Though one is rich and has all the means of pleasure at this disposal, one cannot enjoy those objects on account of this karma. Though one intelligently makes various attempts, one cannot succeed in this business or incur losses on account of this karma.
This was karma in brief. The degree of passion with which an activity is performed determines the degree of stickiness of bondage of the karmic material atoms with the
