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The Journey of the Soul
In the rarest of rare cases, the living being who has lived since beginningless time in nigoda form, due to the automatic and effortless shedding of karmas, is reborn in one of the four gatis (classes of birth in sansaara) - either as a heavenly being, or as a human being, or as a sub-human being or as a denizen of hell. He is first born as a one-sensed sub-human being and then goes off the evolutionary ladder to be born as a five-sensed sentient being. It takes him infinite time to reach there from nigoda.
Progressing from 'akaama nirjaraa' {effortless/spontaneous shedding of karmas from the soul), and loosening tightly bound karmas, when the living being desires on his own to listen to a religious discourse, it is known as 'shravana sanmukhi kaala' (the time when one desires to listen to religious discourse. The extent of this time is two Pudgala Paraavartana Kaala. (To give you an idea of the magnitude of this time frame, it is in excess of infinite wheels of time.)
From there, with steadily increasing purity of the soul's disposition, the living being comes to the point where it is only one & a half Pudgala Paraavartana Kaala' away from attaining liberation. Now, the soul is keenly motivated to walk on the path of righteousness and follow the teachings of the Jinaas. This period is known as the 'Maarga Sanmukhi Kaala' {period when one feels motivated to walk on the path of righteousness.
From that point on, as time passes, the living being comes to the stage where it is only 'one Pudgala Paraavartana Kaala' away from liberation. The being now enters the 'Dharma Yauvana Kaala' (period when faith is blossoming forth. Since this is the last period before liberation, it is also known as the 'Charamaavartii Kaala' (the final period before liberation. As a corollary, the period previous to this is known as the 'Acharamaavarta Kaala'. Since the soul is, at that point in time, stuck in the ocean of transmigration, it is known as the 'Bhavabaala Kaala' {period when faith is in infancy.
Moving ahead from here, when only 'Half Pudgala Paraavartana Kaala' remains, the soul's disposition (bhaava) undergoes a change... His leshyaa {hue of the soul reflects this and lightens in colour from dark shades to light shades.
Krishna Pakshii: One whose hue of the soul is of a very dark shade (Krishna pakshii) will have to suffer in transmigration for more than 'half Pudgala Paraavartana Kaala' before he attains liberation. Both bhavya {those capable of attaining liberation and abhavya {those incapable of attaining liberation living beings find themselves in this stage. However, only some bhavya living beings give up the darker dispositions and make tracks on the path of liberation. Once a bhavya living being gives up the darker hues of the soul {krishna pakshii) and takes on lighter hues {shukla pakshii} he never slides back to the darker hues again.
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