Jaina Mysticism and Other Essays

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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karmas, presupposes in-flux of karmas, i. e. bandha presupposes āśrava. Any action of mind, body and speech is the cause of karmic influx (āśrava). This āśrava becomes bondage in presence of passion. When there are no passions, there is no bondage (bandha) but, in the absence of passions, there is no doubt influx of karma (āśrava) owing to actions, but this āśrava cannot adversely affect the self. Thus it is passions that mar the spiritual career of an aspirant.
Now the question that confronts us is : Is there any way to end āśrava and bandha? The answer of the Jaina is that if the. inflow of karmas is stopped and the accumulated karmas are brushed aside, the self can be made free from all karmic filth, Thus mokśa (emanicipation from karmic matter) is through samvara (stoppage of karmic matter) and nirjarā (shedding of karmic matter). All these three have their psychical counterparts, i. e. there is bhāva-samvara, bhāva-nirjarā and bhāvamoksa.49 This shows that without psychical transformation nothing worthwhile can be achieved. He who makes himself free from passions following right course of conduct stops the influx of karmas. To make oneself completely free from auspicious and inauspicious, psychical states is possible only gradually. Thus saṁvara is gradual. The life of aņuvratas and that of mahāvratas illustrate the gradual process of sarvara and consequently of nirjarā. In other words, the ācāras of the householder and that of the muni pave the way for realising, sarvara, nirjarā and mokśa. In the state of mokśa, the self, experiencing infinite knowledge, infinite bliss and energy absolves itself from the perpetual rounds of birth and death, and it thus annuls the filth of karmas in its entirety.
2(iv) Meaning of Spiritual Awakening : Spiritual awakening, according to the Jaina faith, is the commencement of religious living. It opens the way to spiritual pilgrimage. The irreligious self is converted to religion, which is tantamount to saying that the self is born in the realm of spiritual values. The intellectual understanding of religious truths is not enough, but a sense of participation in them is to be developed.
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Jaina Mysticism and other essays