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CHAPTER VI
NIRJARA
The ceaseless activity of the samsari soul, while responsible for its ever-renewing bondage, is also the cause of its constantly changing circumstances. As new particles of matter flow into the kārmāņa śarīra, they ceaselessly modify its constitution, while old particles are being dislodged and displaced and ejected.
In this respect the kārmāna sarira resembles the surface of a pond fed by a channel in which the processes of inflow and evaporation of water are constantly going on. This mechanical process of C evaporation' of karmas is called savipäka nirjarā, which means the removal of matter from the kārmāņa sarira in the ordinary course of things. The other kind, called avipaka, is the process of the removal of matter, and the consequent destruction of karmic energies, by individual exertion; and it is this second kind of nirjara which is the direct cause of moksa.
Avipaka nirjara consists in the performance of tapa which literally means heating. As pure gold can be easily separated from alloy by putting the impure compound on fire, so can a java free himself from the various kinds of karmas by tapa (asceticism). It should be borne in mind that dependence on any outside agency for the removal of one's karmic bonds not only means so much time wasted, but is also fraught with the most harmful consequences. Our investigation into the nature of the bonds which hold us tight in their grip has revealed the fact that they arise only from our own desires, beliefs, passions and the like, and cannot be destroyed, by any possibility, so long as we do not obtain full control on our own actions. The training of the individual will, then, is the only way to salvation, and it is no exaggeration to say that no one who does not seriously take himself in hand has the least shadow of a chance of acquiring the freedom of Gods.
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