Jinamanjari 1998 09 No 18

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

Page 34

incorporeal, there must be something which has a definite shape as a basis for physical movement. Again, the answer is kārmaṇaśarīra. After leaving the gross body, the subtle matter of karman is all that is left for jiva. This subtle matter has a definite shape, even though it is microscopically small and imperceptible, and this subtle matter can be the means for physical movement.
5
In conclusion, it is impossible to explain the movement of jiva without the existence of karman or kārmaṇaśarīra. As long as the gross body exists, kārmaṇaśarīra, which is imperceptible, exists as karman, and moves jiva to the new gross body after the gross body perishes.
What is Samsāra?
Following TAAS, it is the movement from one gross body to the next which is samsara. But as was explained earlier, it is also the production of the gross body which is samsara.
Furthermore, in the process of transmigration, jiva is not necessarily reborn in the same world. To give a simple example, a jiva which exists in this world may be reborn in hell or heaven. Bearing in mind the possibility of rebirth in a different world, the concept of jiva' s movement is highly significant. And the driving cause for this movement is nothing but karman, called kārmaṇaśarīra,.
If the gross body actually exists, it must have a producer. What is the producer? It is jiva, and the necessary means is karman. Bearing in mind the producer of the gross body, it can be said that jiva's production of the gross body through karman, or of karman through the gross body, brings about transmigration-in this sense, samsara is the succession of karman and the body. At any rate, it is clear that karman is the cause of samsāra.
Therefore, the following can be stated in conclusion: As long as karman has a connection with jiva, the karmic body (kārmaṇaśarīra,), exists, even when the gross body perishes. That is to say, samsāra is the alternation between the karmic body and the gross body, brought about by a mutual causal relationship-samsara is the succession of kārmaṇaśarīra and audārikasarira. Put in simple words, karman and the body are alike, because both are ajiva, and in this way, the successive connection between jiva and ajiva is samsāra.
I am grateful to Ms. Birgit Kellner, Prof. Shoryu Katsura, Prof. Hideyo Ogawa, Dr. Tomoyuki Uno, for comments on this
paper.
For Private 32ersonal Use Only