Jaina Philosophers On Nature Of Liberation

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earth, the state of being wind and the state of being fire a definition is made. Therefore, earth is that whose motion is downward by the definition of the state of being earth. Whatever is gross with the modification of earth, all has downward motion. In the same manner, there is wind with the sideward motion. [And] fire with the upward motion."
Existents are, then, essentially disposed to move in a certain way, depending on what classes and subclasses of substances they belong to. It is important to highlight that the jivas' essential disposition, as pointed out by TBh 10.6 above, occurs independently of or without ties to the other kinds of motion. In line with this, other factors may join and potentially influence the force of the substance's natural motion, but they do not constitute the substance's essential disposition. This means that the previously discussed impetus, for example, is simply an additional factor that stimulates the jiva's upward motion. The same holds true for karman. As noted, TBh states that the weight of karman transforms the jīva's innate motion into motion in various directions, namely, downwards, sidewards and upwards, with TȚ 10.6 adding that these kinds of motion go against the definition of its essential disposition: 'Because of the deviation occasioned by karman motion, countering the definition (aniyama) (of its essential disposition), becomes downward, sideward and upward.154
After their discussions about the cause of the freedom from (karmic) ties, both Digambara and svetāmbara commentaries use the example of the castor seed to demonstrate how severance of the [karmic) bondage (bandha-cheda) functions as a cause of the upward motion of the liberated jīva. SS 10.7 $933 states: 'Just as the motion of a castor seed is seen, owing to the severance of the bondage of a seed-shell, in the same way a liberated being obtains upward motion, owing to the severance of the bondage of all karman (sakalakarman), such as nāma-karman, (which determines) the birth-state (gati) and the class (jāti), leading to such states of existence (bhava) as a human being. 55 Why the castor seed? When the fruit of the castor oil plant dries, the carpels holding the seeds open and forcibly eject the seeds into the air. Jaina authors draw a parallel between this rapid expulsion of the seeds after the severance of the bondage of the carpels and the jiva's fast soaring upwards after cutting its bondage with karman. TBh 10.6 adds the example of the basket on the rope to the
example of the castor seed: 'Just as the motion of a basket, owing to the severance of the skbondage of the rope, and a castor seed and so forth, owing to the severance of the binding of
the seed-shell, is seen, in the same way there is motion of one achieving perfection, owing to the severance of the karmic binding. '56 These two examples stress that the only thing keeping