I am The Soul Part 02

Author(s): Tarulatabai Mahasati
Publisher: Shri Gujarati Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Association

Page 92

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I am the Soul
their precise and micro-knowledge there is a count of the activity of the jiva through every passing moment. That is why they say that a jiva, in its one life, suffers infinite number of karmas, performs the nirjara of infinite number of karmas and binds itself in infinite number of karmas. But this fact is indigestible. Just how can it happen? There is this short time span of life and how can there be infinite karmas being suffered, discharged and bonded?
But Brothers! This jiva of nigoda has to travel further. It has to rise. It is lying there from infinite time but desires to rise. That can happen only when its infinite karmas are discharged. It can progress only on the strength of this discharge. The discharge may well not be done knowingly, it may just happen after due suffering over which it has no control, and that may give the jiva, the eligibility to move forward. So thus it suffers and in the process discharges infinite karmas. This is the means of its progress. All jivas need some means when they have to climb up. In climbing down a person may even jump and come down. There is not much effort involved in it. But in climbing up there has to be a strong support. These jivas too climb up on the strength of nirjara.
In such a short time of life, it is worth thinking, as to how many karmas they bind and when. Every jiva at every moment binds seven types of karmas. These jivas too bind all these seven types of karmas. It is difficult to measure the time span of their life. But if we were to consider broadly, we might say they go through 22 to 23 lives in a second. Now the karma philosophy has a rule that any jiva will die only after it has ascertained the life span for the next life, not before that. These jivas also go through the same. That is to say, in their very short life-span, they bind themselves with the life of the next birth and then die. Therefore, they have bonded all eight karmas. In terms of time, their life time is infinite.