Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

Page 109

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PADMANABH S. AINI
will. Salvation for a Jain must come from within, and must therefore be inherent in the self. During the state of bondage, however, which has no beginning in time, the inherent qualities such as knowledge (iñāna) and bliss (sukha) are vitiated (vibhāvaparinata) and suppressed "like a gourd tied to a heavy stone in water"i by the equally beginningless power of the karmic matter. With the inherent qualities perpetually held in check and without recourse to an outside agency like the Grace of a Deity, how can a soul be considered able to achieve freedom?
Bhavyatva would appear to provide an escape from this impasse confronting the Jain. It is innate to the soul and yet it is not affected in any way by the forces of karma. It is beginningless in time and yet it can be brought to an end (anādı-sānta). It exists in a parallel relationship to karma and terminates itself at the disappearance of the latter. Bhavyatva should be looked upon as a special force of dynamite as it were, planted into the soul as an inherent force to demolish the oppressive mountains of karma.2 This force could remain dormant for ever, but it could also be ignited by an appropriate spark; then, having accomplished the destruction of the karmas, it would burn itself out. The recognition that bhavyatva is indispensable but not wholly competent by itself for the attainment of moksa is highly significant; it prevents bhavyatva from assuming the characteristic of mechanical infallibility. The doctrine thus is able to provide a good measure of scope for the free play of the human will, the timely presence of a teacher and such other factors (kāla-labdhi, etc.) deemed necessary for the emergence of samyaktva, which together act as the crucial spark activating the dormant force.
This interpretation of bhavyatva gains credibility when it is compared with the theory of kušala-dharma-bīja, a device
1. 2.
Sarvarthasiddhi X, 7. Cf. “... bhettāram karmabhūbhịtām”, Sarvārthasıddhı 1, 1.