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Shedding of Karma (Nirjarā)
83
the possession of the Self. Further, it is well known that the physical body, house, jewelry, etc. do not stay with oneself forever. Therefore, a wise person, on the basis of this realization, does not consider house, jewelry, etc. as his possessions in the real sense. Question: This point has already been conveyed in stanzas such as
stanza 38. What is special in this stanza? Answer: First, this is a valuable concept, therefore, Ācārya
Kundakunda wants to elaborate it by providing a simple logic through this stanza. Let us see this logic in short in the language of mathematics in the following box:
If
X is the possession of X, Y is the possession of Y, Z is the possession of Z, and so on, then Y cannot be the possession of X, Y cannot be the possession of Z, Z cannot be the possession of X, Z cannot be the possession of Y, X cannot be the possession of Y, X cannot be the possession of Z, and so on. Application of this logic: By saying that the Self is the possession of the Self in this stanza, Ācārya Kundakunda is also saying that an atom is the possession of the atom itself, and so on. Therefore, an atom cannot be the possession of the soul; thus, in general, only the soul is the possession of the soul; nothing else can be the possession of the soul.
One may see this view of independence of each and every Dravya in this scripture at many places. For example, one may refer to stanzas 81, 103, 308-310, and 372.
