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590
I am the Soul
period cannot bind for infinity. Yet the reason why from infinite time mohaniya was not eliminated totally is that every karma goes on adding to the links of a chain. Since the jiva binds karma at every moment, its flow is unending.
But the plus point for us here is that none of the karmas have an infinite period. Therefore, we can end them. Why! When we can break through the feelings of mithyatva, attachment and aversion resulting from karmas in spite of them having an infinite period, we can certainly destroy the karmas which are of a limited period.
The other matter that bothered the disciple's mind was that the flow of karmas is from infinite period, and our lifetime is so short, how can so many karmas be broken through within that short period? But it is a matter of simple understanding that the time required to destroy anything is much shorter than the time taken to build it. A large house may take 6-12 months in construction, but it hardly takes few days to demolish it. It takes years for a great tree to grow out of a seed, but a few hours are enough to cut it down.
In the same way it does not take infinite time to destroy karmas bound from infinite time. In a very short while, which may be insignificant in comparison with infinite time, karmas can be totally destroyed. We have Bhagawan Mahaveer's past before us. There is a count of his 27 lives. Among them, in how many lives did Prabhu make the tremendous effort for the atma? In just eight of them : 1-3-16-18-22-23-25 and the last i.e. the 27th. He pursued jnana, darshana, charitra and tapa in these eight lives only. If we were to measure the time that was spent in these eight lives, how much would it be? Once the valour (mahaveeratva) awakens in the atma, it does not take long to destroy the coward karmas.
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