Jaina Ethics

Author(s): Dayanand Bhargav
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas

Page 73

faina Ethics According to Vedānta, it is the deceptive nature (Māyā) of the universe which has held us in bondage. A mind, purified by karman and stabilised by upāsanā, gets its veil of igno. rance removed by knowledge. So, according to Vedānta, the root cause of misery is nescience. The Jaina view
The cause of misery is dealt with under two heads in Jainism : (i) Inflow of kārmic matter (afrava), and (ii) Bondage (bandha). We shall deal with both of them. 1. Inflow of kārmic matter (äśrava )
All activities of body, speech and mind, cause inflow of kārmic matter. These activities, if good, cause the inflow of meritorious karmans leading to worldly happiness. If, these activities are bad they cause the inflow of demeritorious karmans leading to misery. At first sight it would appear as if only bad activities are to be avoided since they lead to misery. But even good activities are to be checked ultimately. These good activities are, of course, preferable to bad activities from practical point of view, but from real point of view are as much bondage to the soul as the good activities. As we would discuss this problem separately in the following chapter, we leave it for present, and proceed to explain which activities are good and which bad.
It may be mentioned here that the force of holding the soul in bondage comes from four basic passions (kaşāya), viz. anger, pride, hypocrisy, and greed. Some subtle activities force inflow of kārmic matter (iryāpatha) even in the advanced stages of spiritual progress. This is not important from the point of view of morality. It is only sāmparāyika inflow, backed by the four passions, which causes the cycle of births and rebirths.
The activitics which lead to the sāmparāyika inflow of kārmic matter are 39 in all.4
1. Tattvärthasūtra, 6.1-2. 2. Ibid., 6.3-4. 3. Ibid., 6.5 and 8.2. 4. Pūjyapāda on Ibid., 6.5.