Jain Journal 1982 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 33

28
Karma as a Law of Retributive Justice and Personal Responsibility
Sutrakṛtānga I.1.1.5 observes :
vittam soyariyā ceva savvamevam na tānai sankhāe jiviyam ceva kammuņā u tiuṭṭai
Wealth, and brothers and sisters, all these are unable to protect a person. Knowing that there is no protection (against karma) in life, one gets rid of karma. The Sutrakṛtānga 2.1.41 emphasises that "the bonds of relationship are not able to help.." Again the same Sutra 1.1.10.2 avers
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ege kicca sayam payam, tivam dukkham niyacchai
One who himself does an evil deed, suffers therefor quickly.
The Sutrakṛtānga 1.2.2 attacks the teaching of the Niyativadins that one's suffering is not due to one's actions (na te syam kaḍam dukkham) but due to fate.
The Sutrakṛtänga 1.12.1.4 says:
sayameva kadehim ghāhanti no tassa muccejja aputthayam
(Persons) go round (in the cycle of existence) for the acts done by themselves; without experiencing their results, there is no release.
Again Sutrakṛtānga 1.2.3.17 states:
egassa gai ya āgai biumantā saraṇam na mannai
A being alone is born and reborn, as according to enlightened persons there is no refuge (or escape from karma) for such a person.
The Sutrakṛtānga 2.1.39 makes it clear that even the most intimate relations mother, father, brother, sister, wife and children, cannot share the suffering that may befall a person and adds in Sutra 1.2.1.40.
....One man cannot take upon himself the pains of another; one man cannot experience what another has done (re: his karman).
The Uttaradhyayana maintains the same position. In the Uttaradhyayana, 4.3 it is said: evam payā pecca iham ca loe, kaḍāṇa kaman na mokkha athi"...people in this life and the next cannot escape the effect of their own actions."