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The States and Processes of Karmar
One of the most fundamental principles of the doctrine of karman is that every change in the soul synchronizes with a corresponding change in the state of karman and vice versa. Thus kārmic matter undergoes various processes due to the changes in the sates of the soul. We shall briefly describe some of the important processes here.
The first process is bondage (bandha) --attraction of kārmic matter from the space and its assimilation by the soul and its division into various types of karman. The karman does not yield fruit as soon as it is bound but remains inactive for some time, depending upon the duration of karman (sthiti-bandha). This period of inactivity is called a abādhākāla and the karman is said to be in the state of sattā. After the period of nonproduction is over, the karman comes into rise (udaya) and begins to give it's fruit and this continues uninterrupted till the end of the duration (sthiti-bandha). Processes of Non-fruition
Premature fruition of karman (Udiraņā) is a process in which karman is forced to yield its fruit prematurely by a strong effort of the soul, through a special kind of potency (karaņa). The forced premature fruition of deluding (mohaniya) karman produces a gap of non-fruition in the otherwise uninterrupted chain of fruition. This is called subsidence (upasama) or temporary non-fruition. Again, there is the process of destruction-cum-subsidence (ksayopasama) of ghātin karman wherein some portion of karman is subsided, some is destroyed while some is in the process of rise. It is this state of kşayopasama of the knowledgecovering karman that permits perceptual cognition (matijñāna). The process of ultimate non-fruition is, of course, total demolition (kşaya) which means final and total dissociation of the kārmic matter from the soul.
1. The process of subsidence (upasama) occupies a very important place in the soul's
struggle for self-realization and emancipation. Out of the eight main species, the deluding (mohaniya karman) plays the most important role in perpatuating the worldly existence and even its short subsidence, therefore, gives the soul a glimpse of the truth of its own real nature and illumines its spiritual journey to the final goal.
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