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108
Lord Mahavira and His Times There are four kinds of destructive Karma (Khatiyakarma) which keep the soul tethered to mundane existence. They are as follows : (1) knowledge-obscuring Karma, (2) faith-obscuring Karma, (3) Karma which obstructs the progress of the soul, and (4) Karna which deludes the soul. Indeed Karma plays an important part in Jaina metaphysics. Jainism as a practical religion teaches us to purge ourselves of impurities arising from Karma. SIX LEŚTĀS
The Leśyās are different conditions produced in the soul by the influence of different Karmans. They are, therefore, not dependent on the nature of the soul, but on the Karma which accompanies the soul, and are, as it were, the reflection of the Karmans on the soul.2 The Leśyā is, according to the Satrakṣitānga, a term signifying, 'colour'.2
The Ajīvika expression Chalabhijātiyo as explained by Buddhaghosha implies the same method of classification of men in terms of six colours.3 According to H. JACOBI,4 Mahāvīra borrowed the idea of the six Leśyās from the Ājivikas and altered it to bring it into harmony with the rest of his own doctrines. This view is not correct because the idea of the six Leśyās was prevalent in Jainism earlier than Mahāvīra. The classification of living beings in terms of six colours may be traced back to Parsva's doctrine of six Jivanikayas.
The Mahābhārata expression Jiva-Shațvarnah hardly leaves room for doubt that Lešjā is a term indicative of colour. The Buddhist idea of the contamination of mind by the influx of impurities from outside, illustrated by the simile of a piece of cloth dyed blue, red, yellow, or the like would seem to have some bearing on the Jaina doctrine of the Leśyās.
The Jaina religious efforts are directed towards the acqui
1. SuE, XLV, p. 196, fn. 2. 2. Ibid, p. 280, f.n. 1; Sitra, 1, 6.13. 8. Burir, pp. 309, 318. 4. SBL, XLV, p. xxx. 5. Iche, II, 15. 16. 6. B.M. BARUA : Chittarisuddhiprakarana and its Pāli Basis, published
in Indian Culturc.
