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Appendix - 6
Doctrine of Karma
The spiritual science narrated by Jain Tirthamkara reveals that Kārmika laws are always followed. There is no lawlessness. Ācārya Amstacandra writes:
Sarvam sadaiva Niyatam Bhavati svakīya,
Karmodayanmaranajivitadukhasaukhyam.
(Samayasāra Kalaśa No.168) According to this stanza, always, each and every event - birth, death, pleasure, or pain - happens in accordance with our own Karma and as per definite Kārmika laws.
Jain preceptors also explain that one does not get any reward or punishment through any administrator or governor, but one gets the fruits of one's actions according to definite Kārmika laws. Just as the laws of physics are functional without any administrator, the Kārmika laws also continue to be functional without any manager. To a believer or a scholar, it may be a matter of great interest to learn about the Karma theory. In scriptures, ŞațaKhandāgama, Kaşāyapāhuda, Gommatasära, Tattvārthasūtra, commentaries of Tattvārthasūtra (TattvärthaşlokaVārtika, Tattvārtha-Rājavārtika, etc.), and commentaries of ŞațaKhandāgama (Dhawala, MahāDhawala, JayaDhawala), etc., the preceptors have described various aspects of the Karma theory. Based on these scriptures we shall attempt to present some essential aspects of the Karma theory.
Kārmika bondage
For learning about Kārmika bondage, we need to learn about Asrava and Bandha in more detail (see also annotations related with Gāthā-13). The actions of mind, body/speech are known as Asrava Tativa, as defined by Ācāryu Umāsvāmī in Tattvārthasūtra: 7
Kāyavāmgmanah karma Yogaḥ. Sa Āsravaḥ.
(Tattvārthasūtra: 6.1 and 6.2) It may be very useful to be familiar with some technical words. The Asrava Tattva has been classified in three ways: (1) Sāmparāyika Asrava and Iryāpatha Asrava, (2) Punya Asrava and Pāpa Asrava, (3) Bhāva Asrava and Dravya Asrava. For the present purpose, we consider the third one. The impure thoughts of a
