Indian Culture and Jainism

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Vidya Samsthan

Page 24

crippling influence on the empirical conscious principles from the beginningless past. This material subtle principle is known as Dravyakarma, and its psychical counterpart in terms of Raga and Dvesa is called Bhāva-Karma.
Karmas are of varied nature, but the fundamental kinds of Karma are eight in number13-namely.
(1) Knowledge-obscuring, (Jñānāvaraṇīya-Karma)
(2) Intuition-obscuring, (Darśanavaraṇīya-Karma)
(3) Feeling-producing (Vedanīya-Karma)
(4) Delusion-producing, (Mohanīya-Karma) (5) Longevity-determining, (Ayu-Karma)
(6) Body-making (Nama-Karma)
(7) Status-determining (Gotra-Karma)
(8) Obstruction-generating (Antarāya-Karma)
(1) Just as the curtain obstructs the knowledge of things inside the room, so also the knowledge-obscuring Karma obstructs the expression of knowledge. (2) Just as a door keeper does not allow persons to meet the king etc. so also the intuition-obscuring Karma does not allow apprehension of things. (3) Just as on licking honey from the sharp edge of a sword, the person enjoys honey as well as suffers pain, so also the feeling-producing Karma produces pleasure and pain in man. (4) Just as wine stupefies a person, so also the delusion-producing Karma perverts the person. (5) Just as wooden fetters stop the movement of a person, so also the longevity-determining Karma obliges the soul to stay in a particular body. (6) Just as the painter produces different pictures, so also the body-making Karma makes different bodies. (7) Just as a potter makes earthen pots of different sizes, so also the status-determining Karma determines status in society. (8) Just as a treasurer generates obstructions in giving money etc. to others, so also the obstructiongenerating Karma causes handicaps in charity, in gains and in selfpower.
It is no doubt true that Karmas bind the self to mundane existence. Now the question that arises is this: How the self is bound by Karmas ? What are the causes that create Karmic bondage in the self? The answer
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