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of transmigration. They remain in the vibhaava state {perverted disposition of mithyaatva all this time. Each and every substance has certain attributes. A living being survives because it has the attribute of being a living being. Due to this, mithyaatva has been classified as the first gunasthaanaka.
7. Jains believe that a living being can bind karmas for the maximum duration of 70 krodaakrodiisaagaropama {70 crores of crores of innumerable years. When that living being has only 1 crore of crore saagaropama karmas left, he can attain samyaktva. This development and progress of a jiiva can only take place when he is in the mithyaatva stage, hence mithyaatva is considered to be the first gunsthaanaka.
Mithyaatva Gunasthaanaka
1. Lakshana characteristics/indicators}: As per verse 9 of the Gunsthaanaka Vivarana Chaupaaii,
owing to the rise and ascendance of mithyaatva mohaniiya karmas karmas causing delusion leading to false belief, a person considers false gods, false prophets, false teachers and false religions to be true. A person in this stage is known to belong to the mithyaatva gunsthaanaka {at a spiritual stage of development where false belief is predominant. Such a person, who is ignorant of the true god, true preceptor and true nature of religion is in the primary stage and ignorance is predominant in him. Those who belong in the mithyaatva gunsthaanaka have insufficient, exaggerated and contrary faith in, exposition and comprehension of the teachings of
the supremely detached Jinaas. 2. Hiina Praruupanaa {insufficient exposition}: To falsely assume that the soul is as small as a
grain of rice when in reality the soul can expand to accommodate the entire body. 3. Adhika Praruupanaa {exaggerated exposition}: To consider a single living being to be
prevalent all over the universe. 4. Vipariita Praruupanaa {contrary exposition): 1. To believe that the soul comes into being when five elements viz. earth, water, fire, wind and
the sky come together and that it destroyed when these five elements cease to exist. 2. Incorrect, insufficient and exaggerated understanding of the nine substance enumerated by
the Jinaas (jiiva, ajiiva, aasrava, bandha, punya, paapa, samvara, nirjaraa and moksha). 5. To believe that the body is vyaapaka {all-pervading). 6. Prakriti {types}: In the mithyaatva gunsthaanaka, all 28 types of mohaniiya karmas (delusion
causing karmas) are in ascendance. 7. Phala {consequence}: The living being who remains in the darkness of mithyaatva keeps
wandering in the ocean of transmigration, being reborn in or another gati {the four gatis are: human, subhuman, hellish being and heavenly being), 24 dandaka {further classification of life form based on the destiny of the living being and in one of eighty four lakh possible yonis {forms of life and can never break out of sansaara.
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