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THE SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF JAINISM
compare these karmic energy-levels to those of the electrons in the inner and outer shells of an atom.)
4.3 WHAT GETS TRANSPORTED?
As described above, the four karmic components are responsible for various aspects of the next incarnation. In particular, the bodykarmic component is said to generate two 'subtle bodies' underlying the manifest physical body, (1) the karmic capsule, which maintains the vital functions (temperature, etc) of the organism, and (2) the karmic body, constituting the sum total of the karmic matter present in the soul at a given time. The existence of such kinds of bodies is important to the theory of rebirth since they constitute a vehicle whereby a soul moves under its own power from one incarnation to the next..
At the moment of death, the Body-Producing karmic component (f-component) has pre-programmed, as it were, the particular conditions of the coming embodiment. This information is carried in the karmic body. At death the soul is released from its physical body and is said to travel in a straight line almost instantaneously to the destination which its accompanying karmic matter has predetermined2.'
The transported material is very much like a hermetically sealed capsule (the karmic capsule) containing the karmic body and the soul (see Figure 4.3) stopping the flux and shedding of any karmons. In
SOUL
Karmic Capsule
Karmic Body
Fig. 4.3
A soul in transition: with its karmic body and karmic capsule.
spite of the inherent propulsion due to the soul energy at the time of death it cannot travel too far before it enters a physical body in an egg or womb. The stationary medium as defined in § 4.4 ensures this unless it is being liberated.
