First Steps to Jainism Part 2

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

Page 71

The Five Bodies 57
and aspects including the other types of Bodies. The Karma Body is constantly renewing itself as old Karma matter is shed after giving results and further new Karma matter is acquired till liberation or Mukti, when all Karma are exhausted as also all types of bodies and bodily existence. It is also imperceptible to the senses, and accompanies the soul, on death, to the place of new birth, where it (Karma body) forms the basis of the other new bodies that the soul (jeeva) may acquire.
3. Some further general observations
(i) The association of soul with bodies imply its bondage by Karma and fettering of its unlimited powers and is therefore to be got rid of. From the essential point of view the continuous beginningless change of bodies through births and deaths involves circulation in the world and is, therefore, a curse--an evil. However the bodily existence is also a means of destroying the Karma and can, therefore, be a blessing as a vehicle of attainments of liberation or Mukti. Thus the true followers of the path of liberation put the evi body to good use by involving it in shubh Karma--good deeds-as also in Penance-Tapa. This is the real concept of bodies and bodily existence from truely Anekantvadi or nononesided point of view.
(ii) All these five types of Bodies are material or Pudgalik i.e, made of Pudgals or pudgal-skandh. However, each subsequent category of Bodies contain much larger number of Pudgals than its predecessor (type of body) in the order stated in para 2 above. Inspite of this the subsequent type of body is finer than the earlier and occupies less space. Thus the transformation body (Vaikriya Sharir) contains a much larger quantum of Pudgal than the Physical or Audarik Body and is also finer. This will be clear from the example of cotton and steel, where the latter may contain greater amount of Pudgal but occupies less space.
(ii) A worldly soul or beings is always connected with the two types of Bodies viz., Karman, and Taijas Bodies for the obvious reason that without these the worldly existence is not possible. As such this association is beginningless (anadi) but it ends with the liberation of the soul. In addition it may have the Vaikriya or Transformation Body as in the case of angels, or Audarik or Physical Bodies as in the case of human beings. In such cases these bodies go together. Some human being with requisite powers may acquire either the Vaikriya (Transformation) body or the Abarak or Translocation Body which will mean four types of bodies with one soul. However, since Aharak or Vaikriya bodies cannot be acquired together, the maximum number of Bodies connected with
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