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The characteristics of soul, both from absolute and relative viewpoints i.e. of empirical soul and pure soul, in Jainism can be summed up again as:
Soul is existent. Empirical soul keeps on changing different bodies as per its karmas and enjoys the pains and pleasures associated. On the other hand pure soul without physical body stays in the same state for ever enjoying bliss and infinite knowledge. 33
Jainism thus propagates the spiritual activism4 i.e. soul to attains its supreme state i.e. Paramatma through self effort. It gives the right to live and enjoy to every living being. This is similar to how Gandhi's translation of Stanzas II. 11-30 of The Gita (Anasakti Yoga) on activation of soul and in line with Karma doctrine and concept of soul included in Rajchandra's responses to Gandhi's 27 questions.
c. Karma Doctrine of Jainism and Karmayoga of Gandhi in
the Gita Jain doctrine of karma implies that every action, word, and thought produces, besides its visible, an invisible and transcendental effect' which gets stored as subtle matter particles with the soul as karmas. These karmas cause obscuring (delusion, knowledge and intuition obscuring and interfering lobstructing), defilement, counteracting, chaining the soul with attachment and aversion, linking with past and future and create suffering and making the soul dependent on others and not let the soul enjoy its own nature.
Bondage of karmas to soul is pain. Bondage results from actions of mind body and speech when the soul is tainted by delusion and attachment. The actions of soul in its deluded state are equated to violence and sin by Acharya Amritchandra of Jains." Thus violence causes pain not only to the victim but to the doer/agent first. Actions performed by the soul in a state of
Gandhi & Jainism Pg.137
