Jinamanjari 1998 09 No 18

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 29

The Argument for the Existence of Karman as the Necessary Means The Karmasiddhi-section, the second section of the Gaṇadharavada-chapter, aims at proving the real existence of karman. The following demonstration explains that, without the existence of karman, it is impossible to conceive of a producer of the body.
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nāyam akarmā sarīram ārabhate / nirupakaraṇatvāt / iha yo nirupakaraṇo nāṣāv ārabhate, yathā daṇḍādivikalakulālaḥ /yas cărabhate nāsau nirupakaraṇo yathāsāv eva daṇḍādisametaḥ / na casya karmantareṇānyad upakaranam asti /
<Thesis> A [Jiva] which does not possess karman does form a body. <Reason> Because [such a jiva] does not have the [necessary] means. <Positive Example> Here (in the secular world), whoever does not have the (necessary) means does not produce [anything]. Just like a potter who does not have a stick etc.
<Negative Example> And whoever is a producer is not without (necessary) means. Just like a potter who has a stick. And jiva does not have any other means except for karman.
A person who does not have the necessary means for production cannot be a producer, such as a potter who does not have a stick for making a pot. And it is held that a producer of something must certainly have the necessary means.
In the Jivasiddhi-section, it was proved that jiva exists as the producer of the body. Therefore, jiva must have the necessary means to produce the body. Here in the Karmasiddhi-section, it is now stated that this means is nothing but karman. Consequently, the jiva which does not have karman, that is, the liberated jiva, does not have the necessary means, and cannot be the producer of the body. The jiva which has karman, being bound into samsāra, is in possession of the necessary means and can therefore produce the body. In this manner, karman exists as the means for jiva's production of a new body.
Transmigration: Karman and jiva
However, jiva produces not only the body with karman but also the karman itself. This demonstration, taken from the Bandhamokṣasiddhi-section-the sixth section of the Ganadharavadachapter, deals with the relation of karman and jiva:
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