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Chapter - 4
Samayasāra dirt in actual life, so also the trio of pure innate qualities-faith, knowledge and conduct (darśana, jñāna and cāritra)-are defiled and polluted by the trio of perversions resulting from the fruition of deluding (mohanīya) karma.
In the first place it should be noted that it is the 'whiteness' (which is a quality of the fabric/cloth] that is obliterated and not the fabric i.e., the substratum which is cloth. The latter remains intact and unaffected by the dirt, though by the change in qualityits pure (white) state-has become dirty. And secondly, by the use of suitable detergents and washing technique, the original whiteness can be completely restored. In the same way (applying the analogy to philosophy), the soul is capable of restoring its inherent purity by suitable spiritual discipline, but during its impure worldly state the capability of a completely adequate apprehension of the whole of reality/truth, is, for the time being, obscured and rendered ineffective. Hence, in the impure worldly state, apprehension of reality is neither pure nor perfect but piecemeal and fragmentary. Here again, the impairment is that of an attribute of the soul while the substance-the substratum of qualities and modes/states-remains intact and unaffected. And the attribute itself, being innate, can be fully recovered by proper technique of cleansing, i.e., removing the obscuring factor.
Finally, the author identifies, under the authority of the omniscient, each obscuring and defiling factor. Jains use the term mithyātva' meaning perversity to denote the principle which acts as primordial hindrance against the apprehension and belief in truth. The terms mithyādarśana, mithyādrsti, darśanamoha etc. are also used in the same sense. Darśanamoha is one of the eight main experiences.
Samyaktva also called Samyagdarśana is the opposite of mithyātva. In course of time, the soul, due to its inherent urge for purification, attains some purity and the potency of mithyātva is reduced and made ineffective to a significant extent usually the soul does not need any extraneous help but the progress may be accelerated due to the influence of instructions from sages who know the truth from direct experience. The purity of the soul is 1. The term is equivalent to avidyā, ajñāna, viparyaya used by different Indian
systems of philosophy.
- 1320
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