Religion and Philosophy of the Jainas

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Jain International Ahmedabad

Page 16

INTRODUCTION
15 Law of causation functions in the moral world also. It is supreme. Each act has its proper result. Mental, vocal and bodily acts are momentary. So, how can they give their fruits afterwards when they themselves are non-existent ? Acts produce their fruits through their impressions which serve as a link between acts and fruits. Though acts are momentary they leave behind their impressions on the soul.
The formulation of karma theory is the result of Jaina thinkers' sincere efforts to find answers to the following questions : All souls are equal by nature. What causes inequality in them? What explains the inborn diversity among different individuals ? What is it that gives rise to unequal and vastly diverse states experienced by even one and the same individual at different times ?
The cause of these inequalities and differences is ‘karma', The consistency of the life of a soul - the life stretched in the three divisions of time - depends on karma. Again, the theory of rebirth is a natural corollary of the theory of karma. Every act must necessarily be followed by its consequence. If the consequences of our acts have not been experienced in the present life, they necessarily demand a suture life for their fruition. Many times we observe that the acts performed by a person do not give their fruits to that person in his entire life and that the fruits he enjoyed in his entire life are not the fruits of the acts he performed in the present life. So we are left with no other alternative but to posit on the one hand a previous life before the present birth, where lie the causes (good or bad acts) of the fruits he experienced in the present birth as also to posit on the other hand the life beyond the death of the present body, where he will experience the fruits of the acts performed in the present birth.
Soul in its pristine state is omniscient, perfectly blissful, has perfect right conviction and right conduct, everlasting life, no material body and infinite capacity. But it, in its mundane state, undergoes sufferings, its faculty of knowledge is blurred, it is