Book Title: Outlines of Jainism
Author(s): S Gopalan
Publisher: Wiley Eastern Private Limited New Delhi

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Page 185
________________ 176 JAINISM types : bhāva-saṁvara and dravya-saṁvara. The susceptibility to kārmic inflow is first checked. This is bhāva-samvara. In the absence of the root-cause of the flow of kārmic particles, the actual flow of kārmic particles is also not possible. This state of the stoppage of kārmic material is referred to as dravya-samyara. Discriminative knowledge is the pre-requisite of samvara. In our context the term discriminative knowledge means the type of knowledge which unambiguously spells out the exact nature of the jīva and the ajīva. Whereas the intrinsic nature of the jīva is one of pure consciousness as long as knowledge proper does not dawn, purity of consciousness is not recognized. The various passions that the jīva has and the affections it is subjected to are not intrinsic to its character. Whereas they are considered to constitute the essential nature of the soul, they are, really speaking, only accidental to it. They can therefore be done away with without causing any damage to the soul. Again the various types of karmas with which the soul identifies itself are not as important as they seem to be in understanding the nature of the soul. In short, due to wrong knowledge, things which are distinct (jiva and ajīva) are not recognized to be so. The moment the recognition of the distinction between the two takes place, the soul geis freed from the delusions it was subjected to previously and it apprehends its own nature properly. The result of the 'self-apprehension is that the various psychic states which result from ignorance are vitiated. This is bhava-samyara proper and it paves the way to dravya-samvara. The flow of kārmic particles is stopped completely because of the absence of the psychic conditions which once facilitated it. The Dravyasangraha refers to seven varieties of sarivara vrata (vow), samiti (carefulness), gupti (restraint), dharma (observance), anuprekșa (meditation), parişāhasaya (victory over troubles) and cāritra (conduct). The Tattvārtha-Sūtra replaces vrata by tapas (penance).10 Nirjara : Two stages are recognized in the shedding of the karmas. The first stage refers to the modifications caused in the soul as a consequence of which partial disappearance of the karmic particles results. This is bhāva-nirjara. The complete disappearance of the kārmic particles is the next stage known as drayya-nirjara. 10 Ibid., IX. 3 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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