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CHAPTER V
SAMVARA
It is clear from what has been said in the earlier chapters that karmic matter flows into the soul with every action and that the fusion of spirit and matter takes place only when the soul is rendered receptive, or negative, in consequence of its desires. It would follow from this that complete freedom can be attained only by checking the continuous activity of the mind and body which is the cause of fresh asrava, and by the elimination of the accumulated deposit of karmic force from the soul. Hence, the first thing to do is to bring under control the organs of action which act as doorways to the ingress of the enemy. This amounts to saying that perfect control must be put on the mind, body and speech, which are the three inlets for the karmic matter to enter into the soul. The process of checking the inflow of fresh matter through these doorways is called samvara, which is of two kinds, namely, (i) bhāva samvara and (ii) dravya samvara. The former of these signifies the control of passions, emotions, likes and dislikes, and the latter, i.e., dravya samvara, the cessation of the influx of matter.
Now, since passions and emotions only arise by virtue of unsatisfied desires, he who would bring them under control must begin by renouncing his desires in the first instance. Similarly, since dravya asrava* takes place through the doorways of the mind, the body and speech, the
* Karmas are generally dealt with ander two heads : (i) bhāva karmas and (ii) drapya karmas. Of these, bhāva karmas signify different kinds of mental states of the soul, and draoya karmas the material forces forged in consequence of those mental states. This distinction is also observed in respect of asraoa, bandha, sampara, nirjarā and mokşa. We thus have bhāva ástava signifying the condition of receptivity or negativity which is favourable for the influz of matter into the soul, and dradya āstava, the actual inflowing material itself. Similarly, bhāva bandha, bhāva sampara, bhāva nirjarī and bhāva mokşa have reference to mental attitude, and dradya bandha, dradya sandara, dradya nirjatā and dradya moksha to the physical side of the question.
