Fundamentals Of Jainism

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

Page 53

SAMVARA
(attachment to the objects of senses), passions, evil thoughts, himsa (injury), and the like.
The duration* of life in the four gatis (conditions of life, deva
*To understand the nature of the ayuh karma, it is necessary to bear in mind the fact that birth and death are two alternating phases of life of the soul involved in the cycle of transmigration. Neither pure spirit nor matter is, in any sense, liable to suffer death, since the unit of cach is a simple, that is to say, indivisible and indestructible substance, and, therefore, not liable to disintegration.
The karmana sarira of the samsari siva, which is the product of the union of spirit and matter, is the factor which determines the liability to birth and death, for so long as it exists-and it is only destroyed just prior to the obtainment of final emancipation it remains liable to changes of form resulting from the processes of inflow of matter into, and of its removal from, the constitution of the soul. Time, the ubiquitous medium of change, aptly called kala (death), because of a change of condition being the essence of death, also tends to bring about a dissolution of form, in consequence of the operation of bodies on one another. Thus, while the bondage of the soul is prolonged by the fresh influx of matter, great changes take place periodically, qualitatively and quantitatively, in the composition and struc. ture of the kårmana sharira. When the soul's association with its outer body is rendered impossible in consequence of these changes, or from any other cause, it departs from it, and is then said to die. Its death, however, is a signal for a fresh outburst of its organising activities elsewhere, for it is immediately attracted into a new womb, and at once proceeds to organise --mechanically, no doubt - a new outer body for itself. The force which determines the length of the period of the association between the soul and its outermost body is called the dyun karma. This association is liable to come to an end either (1) naturally, as the culmination of the incessant processes of change and readjustment going on internally, or (2) by the separation of the soul from its gross body, in consequence of the impairment or destruction of some vital organ or organs. The distinction between these two kinds of causes of death lies in the fact that, while the association of the soul with its gross body is rendered impossible in consequence of the changes in the structure of the karmana sharira in the one case, in the other it is due to the impairment or destruction of some vital organ of the outermost body itself. Hence, premature death is a possibility of experience where the outermost body is liable to be destroyed accidentally, but not where it enjoys an immunity from accidents, as is the case with the vaikriyaka body (of devas and residents of hells), the parts of which, as the Scripture shows, immediately join again on being pierced or cut. Those who maintain that no one can dic before his time, necessarily deny premature death, but they forget that the force which regulates the natural duration of life necessarily resides in the karmånd sarira, while an accidental termination