Prashamratiprakaran

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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and the remaining ones are auspicious. An individual is always swayed by any of the three good or three bad Lesyās. Only the Siddhas are free from the influence of the Leśyās and so they are called Alegins or Gataleśyās. The black, blue and grey Leśyās are the lowest tpye of em tions, through them the soul is brought to misery. The red, yellow and white are the good Leśyās, through them the soul is brought into happi- . ness. The black Leśyā is the worst of the three bad emotions colouring the soul. The blue is less evil than the first. The grey may lead men to do evil. The red removes all evil thoughts, through yellow Leśyā man controls passions. Love and hatred disappear under the iufluence of white Leśyā. Each following one is better than the preceding one and the last is the best. This idea is beautifully illustrated by the following story : Six hungry travellers saw ripe fruits on a Jambu tree and thought of eating the fruits. The first man suggested that the tree be uprooted to eat fruits. The second man told others to chop off the big branches, the third recommended to cut off only the small branches, the fifth advised to pluck the fruits and the sixth advised gathering fruits fallen on the ground. Here, the six persons are under the influence of different kinds of Leśyās. The first one has a black Laśyā, the second blue, the third grey, the fourth red, the fifth yellow and the sixth white. The white Leśyā is the best and the Jaina religious efforts are directed towards the acquistion of this pure Leśyä.
Kinds and Nature of Karma :
Karmas are classified into eight fundamental types on the basis of their nature : Knowledge obscruing Karma (Jñānāvaraạiya), insight obscruing karma (darśanāvaraniya), feeling producing karma (Vedaniya), deluding karma (mohaniya), age determing karma (Āyuşkarma), body determing karma (nāma), heredity determining karma (gotra) and power hinderiny karma (Antarāya). (Pr. 34). Jñānāvaraņiya, darśanävaraniya, mohaniya and antarāya karmas are called Ghātikarmas as they tend to obscure the real nature of self. These karmas not only lead to worldly misery but also retard the moral progress of the aspirant. These karmas actually affect the attributes of the soul. The remaining four karmas, viz., vedaniya, āyuşya, nama and gotra karmas are called aghāti karmas, becausė, these are not directly concerned with obscuring the nature of the soul. In the absence of ghātikarmas they do not retard the moral progress of the aspirant. These eight kinds of karmas are subdivided into many kinds. The Jňānāvaraņiyakarma which obscures the knowing faculty of the soul is divided into five kinds; viz., matijñānāvaraniya, which obscures the knowledge acquired through the senses and the mind, prevents our right conscience and intellect, śrutajñānāvaraniya