Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Boolchand
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society

Page 76

( 69 ) of matter, which have the peculiar property of developing the effects of merit. Karma acts in such a way that every change which takes place leaves a mark which is retained and built into the organism to serve as the foundation for future action. Punya is the name of those actions which lead to the good karma, which in its turn is productive of peace of mind ; Pepa is just the opposite of gog. Punya may be laid up in the following nine ways; by giving food to deserving people who are hungry, weak, destitute of help and needy (5751917), by giving water to the thirsty (9197 ); by giving residence, by giving sleeping accommodation, by giving clothes, by thinking well of every one and wishing them well (8529); by exerting ourselves to render service to others or to save life ; by speaking sweetly and so as to influence others towards religion and morality (haa); and by reverent salutations (F4FTIT). Papa may be earned in eighteen ways; by destroying life (parfagra) by speaking untruthfully (aulata); by acting dishonestly (31291217) by unchaste conduct ( 199 ); by excessive love of one's own possessions (91797 ); by getting angry without a cause ( File); by conceited behaviour (1a); by intrigue of cheating (PUT); by avarice (T); by over-fondness (TTT) for a person or a thing; by hatred or envy (n); by quarrelsomeness (757); by slander of others (37x21ea1a); by telling stories to discredit any one (AST1); by continually thinking of other's faults (quitat); by excessive attachment to temporal and transitory objects of affection (fa); by hypocrisy (HITIATI); and by false faith (letra). It is needless to labour the point that such detailed analysis of the acts of merit and demerit entitles Jainism to be considered as primarily an ethical philosophy.
Karma, the accumulated result of action, is one of the central ideas of Jain Philosohphy, and Astava deals with the way in which karma is acquired by the human soul. There are forty-two chief channels of Asrava through which karma affects a jiva; of these seventeen are regarded as major—the five Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat