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Istopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
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As water flows into the lake by means of streams, so does the karmic matter flow into the soul through the channel or medium of activity. The inflow of the karmic matter into the soul is called influx (āsrava). Karmas are said to be of two kinds, namely, merit (punya) and demerit (pāpa). Virtuous activity is the cause of merit and wicked activity is the cause of demerit. The threefold nature of activity is admitted: bodily-activity, speech-activity and thoughtactivity. Killing, stealing, and copulation are some wicked activities of the body. Harsh and uncivil language is a wicked speech-activity. Thoughts of violence, envy, calumny are examples of wicked thought-activities. The opposites of these are virtuous activities. That activity which is performed with good intention is virtuous and that which is performed with evil intention is wicked. From the empirical point of view, activity which purifies the soul is merit (punya) resulting, among other things, in happy feeling. Activity which keeps the soul away from good is demerit (pāpa) resulting, among other things, in unhappy feeling. There are three ways an individual may be involved in performing an activity. He may perform it himself. Or he may get it performed by someone else. Or he may approve of what has been done by someone else. In all three cases, the responsibility of the action lies, partly or fully, on the individual and he is liable to attract karmic bondage.
The nature of influx and its consequence in terms of bondage (bandha) differ from person to person. For a person actuated by passions it extends transmigration and for a person free from passions it prevents or shortens it. Passions are primarily of four kinds - anger (krodha), pride (māna), deceitfulness (māyā), and greed (lobha). Passions are the cause of the union of the karmic matter with the soul. The soul gets bound with karmas of different kinds depending on the intensity and the nature of passions. In other words, physical matter present coextensive with the soul gets
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