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THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE JAINAS.
independent soul-happiness. He further increases his knowledge and soul-power by destructive-subsidence of knowledge.obscuring, conation-obscuring, and obstructive Karmas. His previously bound conduct-preventing-passion-karmas existing in the soul's spatial units are weakened. His other demerit Karmas also are weakened or transformed into merit Karmas. Duration bondage of all Karmas in existence except age-Karma is gradually lessened. A right believer even in the vowless stage is capable of bringing about the subsidence of partial-vow-preventing passions, by this practice of self-realisation. Then he adopts the preliminary vows of a layman. As his practice of self-realisation is improved, he weakens the force of total vow preventing-passion-Karmas, and is advanced in degrees of conduct of a layman. When the same self. realisation causes subsidence of total-vow-preventing-passions, he accepts vows of a saint and devotes his time wholly and solely to self-purification. Through self-realisation he causes destruction of the four destructive Karmas; and thereafter becomes an Omniscient Conqueror. In that sublime condition he is absorbed in his own soulness for ever; lives in the body up to the age-duration ; and then freed from all fine and gross matter, retaining his own immaterial and innumerable spatial units, quite pure and illuminating with all full attributes, goes up direct to the top of the universe and stays there for eternal time.
जह कणयमग्गितवियं कणयसहायं ण तं परिचयदि । तहकम्मोदयतविदो सा चयदिणाणी दु णाणित्तं ॥ १६१ ॥ यथा कनकमग्नितप्तमपि कनकस्वभावं न तत्परित्यजति । तथा कर्मोदयतप्तो न त्यजति ज्ञानी तु ज्ञानित्वं ॥ १६१ ॥
191. As gold heated in fire does not give up its golden nature; so the knower, (though) agitated by the operation of Karmas, does not give up its nature of knowing.
Commentary. Gold though heated thousands of times, or mixed innumerable times with minerals or other substances never gives up its nature of goldness. It remains the same gold in any condition whatsoever. Similarly, a soul being affected by Karmas, having come in contact with Karmic and quasi-Karmic matter even from eternity does never lose its soul-nature of all perceiving, all-knowing, all
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