First Steps to Jainism Part 1

Author(s): Sancheti Asso Lal, Manakmal Bhandari
Publisher: Sancheti Trust Jodhpur

Page 34

20 First Steps to Jainism
I have no truck with anything else.
Without colour, without attachment,
without hatred, I am unique,
I am indivisible body of consciousness, happy in my own physique,
I am responsible for my success or failure and none else,
I reside in me, needing no rest in anything else.
I am pure, omniscience, one, unaffected by other's act.
I realise myself through me, I am knowledge and bliss perfect.
(ii) Non-living matter-the second fundamental:
This subject has also been dealt with earlier. Though the entire group of matter, time, space etc. forms nonliving fundamental, they are widely divergent from each other as mentioned earlier. The role played by matter is predominent and it is with the matter that we are primarily concerned in the present discussion. It may be added that karma matter has beginningless association with the soul. Though with form, it is so subtle and fine that nothing can check it. It passes through all and it does not stand in way of anything else. Thus it travels with the soul from one body to another with its transmigration after death.
(iii) Influx-Third fundamental:
All worldly creatures are constantly engaged in some form of activitymental, verbal or physical. All such activities create turbulence in the soul and attract corresponding amount of matter in the form of karma bodies into the soul. This flow of matter-Karma bodies into the soul is called influx-asrava the third fundamental. The activity of creatures that attracts is subjective influx (bhav asrava). True to its arithmetical approach, in Jain scriptures the activities, causing influx, have been divided and sub-divided into numerous minute sub-divisions, a broad description of which is as under:
(a) False vision-like wrong belief, skepticism, ignorance of true path and is of five types.
(b) Undisciplined life-This implies indulgence in violence, untruth, theft, unchastity and undue accumulation (of wealth).
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