Practical Path

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 46

ASRAVA.
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stated that ásrava always signifies the influx of matter into the substance of the soul, and that the soul remains subject to it so long as the rhythm of life remains slackened by the attitude of receptivity. This attitude of receptivity or negativity, as has been already stated, is due to the influence of desires for material things, for the soul is perfection itself in its natural purity, but the entertainment of desires leads it to depend on the objects thereof, throwing it into an attitude of expectancy and uneasiness. Pure intelligence by nature, the jîva is affected by its beliefs, so that the expectation of joy, comfort or help from outside itself instantly impairs its natural buoyancy and strength. It is this condition of expectancy which may be called receptivity or negativity. This harmful attitude, as stated before, is forced on the soul in consequence of its desires for intercourse with, and traffic in, matter from which it expects to derive pleasure, or joy, in some form or other. In reality, however, the soul is perfect and blissful by nature, so that its desires for the enjoyment of matter only betray its ignorance of its own true natural perfection. Thus, any kind of activity, physical, mental or moral, is a cause of ásrava, no exception being made even in the case of actions performed carelessly, since they point to the presence of an attitude of carelessness which is quite incompatible with self-conscious
ness.
The causes of ásrava may now be enumerated categorically. They are :
(1) Mithyátva, i.e., wrong belief or faith, (2) Arirati, i.e., moral failings,