Journal of Gyansagar Science Foundation 2013 04 01

Author(s): Sanjeev Sogani, Vimal Jain
Publisher: Gyansagar Science Foundation

Page 98

Dr. N. L. Kachhara, Volume 1 Issue 1 April 2013
efforts. Once free no more karma is bound and the soul is not embodied again. The soul has innumerable pradesas and the karmas bond uniformly on each pradesa, there is no soul pradesa without association with karma. In this specific sense the principle of non-locality holds in the space of the soul
The body is constituted by cells. The soul pradesa and karma are associated with each cell. The cells and hence the body cannot function without soul and karma. There is life in the body so long as soul is associated with it; the body is dead when the soul departs. The soul extends only in the cells of the body. Our body contains some hollow spaces and spaces where the excreted material like urine and stool etc. are stored. These spaces do not contain cells and the soul does not extend there. The cells (live) are the places through which we experience pain and pleasure, because of presence of the soul; the empty spaces, and dead cells, are devoid of any sensation perception. The sensation of pain and pleasure is made by the soul through karma, in the absence of karma the soul does not have such sensation, and it experiences the bliss which is its natural attribute. It may be mentioned here that if pain is negative excitation, pleasure is positive excitation and the bliss is state of no excitation of the soul.
Derivative Powers of Soul
The natural (svabhavika) powers are intrinsic to soul and are not related to karma. A mundane soul also has derived perverted (vaibhavika) powers due to removal or removal-cum-subsidence of karma. These powers are characteristic of the impure or perverted modes of the soul. The derived powers and the natural powers mutually influence each other and therefore in presence of derived powers the natural powers of the soul are not experienced naturally.
Based on karma the derived powers may be divided in two categories, the psychic powers as a consequence of removal or subsidence or removal-cum-subsidence of psychical karma (ghatin) and biological and physiological powers for physiological karma (aghatin). The psychic powers support the psychic activities like thinking, imagining, willing, creating choices and taking decisions, memory etc and physiological powers support the biological functions of designing, constructing and operating the body, the activities of sensing the objects, producing feelings, interacting with environment etc. The derived powers are produced by auxiliary cause (nimita) and remain in existence as long as the cause, karma, is present. Our existence as a human being is due to the derived powers of the soul and all our activities, psychic
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and somatic, are heavily dependent on these powers. The natural powers are manifested in a significant way only when the influence of derived powers is reduced on weakening of karma and our perception changes from indirect to direct.
The psychic powers and biological powers work in specific ways. The manifestation of psychic powers affect cognition that generates knowledge: this knowledge of the external world is, however, called ajnana, ignorance, in Jainism as it does not help in the ultimate goal of attaining salvation. As psychical karmas are reduced the natural powers of the soul are manifested in greater proportions and when this happens in large measure the soul attains the ability of direct cognitions. When all the psychical karmas are eliminated the ignorance is also eliminated and the soul attains omniscience, the state in which infinite jnana and darshana attributes, the natural powers of the soul are manifested.
At the start of life cycle from one-sense beings least amount of biological powers are manifested. As physiological karmas reduce the soul derives powers to have body with more numbers of senses and in the later stage acquires a human body. The sense organ with which the soul performs intelligent activities of mind, speech and body and the power to perform these activities is called karan in Jainism. As the physiological karmas are further reduced the soul develops abilities to manage the body in extraordinary ways which are known as supernatural powers. In the state of omniscience only minimum amount of physiological karmas are in balance and the whole body becomes karan and every part of body becomes means of super-sensory perception. The senses now become Omni-directional and normal sense organs lose their importance.
The physical sense organs, dravyendrian, have their counterpart in the soul structure known as bhavendrian or the psychic senses. The psychic senses are in the form of manifested jnana and darshana due to removal cum subsidence of respective karma. The physical sense organs are formed by rise of morphological (naam) karma and function because of existence of corresponding psychic sense that is the intelligent action performed by sense organs is due to manifestation of jnana and darshana attributes of the soul or upayoga of consciousness of the soul. Mere existence of organs in physical form, as in a dead body, cannot result in intelligent action in the absence of soul.
Physical sense system has two parts nirvriti and upakaran and each of these has two sub parts. The sub parts of nirvriti are (a) the outer part in the form of physical sense organ, and (b) the inner part in the form of some