Fundamentals Of Jainism

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Veer Nirvan Bharti

Page 29

ASRAVA
21
circumstances of life. The two opposite types of feelings known as de-light (literally, intense lightness) and de-pression (mental 'heaviness'). also furnish strong evidence in support of asrava, for the former conveys the idea of the removal of a kind of weight from the soul, while its antithesis, the latter, implies the imposition of some sort of burden on it. Hence, if our language is to be true to nature, we must acknowledge that it is not purely the weight of words, ideas or circumstances which makes us experience the unpleasant feeling known as depression of spirits, nor the cessation or removal there of which serves as an occasion for delight.
The truth is that when the soul becomes negative in consequence of some ungratified desire, it is exposed to the asrava of matter in a marked degree, and, consequently, feels de-pressed in the literal sense of the word. Similarly, when its desires are gratified, or voluntarily abandoned, its condition of negativity comes to an end, and some of the particles of matter, which had flowed in on account of the slackening of the intensity of the rhythm of life, are mechanically dispersed, giving rise to the feeling of de-light.
As a result of the foregoing discussion, it may be stated that asrara always signifies the influx of matter into the substance of the soul, and that the soul remains subject to it so long as the rhythm of life remains slackened by the attitude of receptivity. This attitude of receptivity or negativity, as has been already stated, is due to the influence of desires for material things, for the soul is perfection itself in its natural purity, but the entertainment of desires leads it to depend on the objects thereof, throwing it into an attitude of expectancy and uneasiness. Pure intelligence by nature, the jiva is affected by its beliefs, so that the expectation of joy, comfort or help from outside itself instantly impairs its natural buoyancy and strength. It is this condition of expectancy which may be called receptivity or negativity. This harmful attitude, as stated before, is forced on the soul in consequence of its desires for intercourse with, and traffic in, matter from which it expects to derive pleasure, or joy, in some form or other. In reality, however, the soul is perfect and blissful by nature, so that its desires for the enjoyment of matter only betray its ignorance of its own true