Book Title: Jaina Psychology Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta Publisher: Sohanlal Jain Dharm Pracharak Samiti AmrutsarPage 46
________________ KARMA: THE BASIS OF JAINA PSYCHOLOGY 29 The period it requires is called 'period of non-fruition' (abadhā kāla). When this period has passed, then and then alone a karma can yield its fruit in any form whatsoever. This is, in brief, the description of the various states and processes of karma. Of these states, the state of 'realization' (udaya) corresponds to that of 'prārabdha', i.e., the state of the karmas that have begun to yield fruit; the state of 'endurance' (sattā) corresponds to that of 'sañcita', i.e., the state of the accumulated karmas that are to endure for a certain length of period; the state of 'binding? (bandhana) corresponds to that of āgāmin, i.e., the state of karmas that are being bound.2 Our aim in writing this account has been to demonstrate the actual position of the doctrine of karma in Jainism, and not to prove its validity or rationality. It is not our claim that the Jaina doctrine of karma is completely comprehensible and entirely logical, We are, however, tempted to admit that it is of immense importance, unique in nature, complete in itself, most exhaustive, and to some extent satisfactory, too. The task of the texts related to the present doctrine, it is obvious, is to expose entirely a dogma but not to prove it. They enumerate different types and sub-types of karma, various states of the self, different degrees of their perfection and development, etc., but we do not find in them a completely satisfactory explanation as to 'why' any of this is thus and not otherwise. As regards the questions of 'what' and 'how the writers are, no doubt, quite consistent. The psychological investigations are chiefly concerned with 'what' and 'how rather than with 'why' which, really speaking, is a metaphysical doubt. We propose to give a psychological estimate of the fundamentals of the Jaina doctrine of karma in the subsequent chapters. We promise to explain 1 'Abādha'anudayakālah. Karma-grantha, V, p. 37. 2 That portion of a man's past that is operative in influencing a man's mind and the course of his experiences during an incarnation is called prārabdha. Those that yet lie deep within the inner recesses of his lingadcha and have not yet begun to manifest themselves during an incarnation are called sancita, while every present act, every present thought, every present desire becomes stored in his subtle body as āgāmin which goes to enrich his atmosphere of karma and will react on him in the future. Outlines of Indian Philosophy (P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar), p. 62.Page Navigation
1 ... 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238