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XLVI
PRAVACANASĀRA.
karman; it is only from the ordinary point of view that the agency of karman is attributed to the soul. When the soul realizes itself as an embodiment of knowledge, there is no more bondage occasioned by Mithyātva etc. If it is to be said that the soul is not bound etc., we are led to absurd positions : either there is no samsāra or there is the illogical position of the Sāmkhya doctrine (117 and 122). A Jñānin experiences psychic states of knowledge and the Ajñānin the opposite of the same. One rises above various shades of view-points and statements, when he comes to realize the pure self. (69-144).
Demeritorious and meritorious karmas can be compared with iron and gold fetters respectively; to get liberation one must be free from both. It is necessary that attachment should be given up, and one should absorb himself in his pure self; otherwise all penances and religious practices are fruitless. To believe in Jīva etc. is faith, to grasp them is knowledge, and to avoid attachment etc. is conduct, which together constitute the path of liberation, as they counteract Mithyātva, ignorance and passions (145-163).
Mithyātva, etc., which are the psychic states of souls in transmigration, are the causes of karmic influx. When the psychic state is free from passional tinge, there is no cause for bondage. A ripe fruit fallen to the ground cannot stick back to the stalk, so the karman, when once completely destroyed, cannot involve the soul in samsāra. A man of right faith, because of his discriminative ability, is above bondage (164-180).
Gold, though heated, does not lose its yellow colour; so, though operated on by karman, the Jñānin does not leave his jñānitva; his aim is to discriminate the pure soul from passional states. Being free from all attachments, when one concentrates oneself on his self, there is no more contact with karman and No-karman (181-192). .. The pleasures etc. of a man of right faith, because of the complete absence of attachment etc. in his case, only exhaust his karmic deposit. He has fully realised that his soul is only jñāyaka not to be identified with anything else. Attachment etc., even to the extent of a primary atom, cause a great danger to self-realisation, even though one has mastered all the sacred texts. One should absorb oneself in his self, which is an embodiment of knowledge, and thus be satisfied: that is excellent bappiness. A Jñānin, being free from attachment etc., is not rusted by karman, like a piece of gold thrown in mud; while the ignorant person is to be compared with a piece of iron. A man of faith is endowed with ris's'ankā and other virtues, and is free from fear etc. (193-236).
. If a man, with his body besmeared with oil, stands in a dusty place and takes exercise of various kinds, he is coated with dust; similarly a man of false faith, passing through various states of attachment etc. and acting in various ways, is bound by karmic dust. On the other hand, when the oil is removed, the dust would not stick to his body inspite of his various exercises; so a man of faith, who is not at all attached to anything, though he acts in various ways, is not bound by karman. One should be always indifferent to the effects of karman, Really speaking bondage results from
