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A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
ayu), 3. the life span determining karma in the case of human being (manuşya āyu) and 4. that which determines the age of the residents of heaven (devayu).1
The age determination may be considered in two ways: 1. apavartaniya and 2. anapavartaniya. Apavartaniya refers the decrease in the age due to external condition. Anapavartaniya refers to the nondecrease under any circumstance of the duration of the ayu.2
Apavartaniya ayu does not however mean that it is possible to terminate the life of an individual jiva without exhausting the duration of the age as determined by the age determining karma. In only means that one can hasten the experience of the ayu karma which would have taken a longer time. This experience of karma can be reduced in antarmuhurta. In the common sense parlance, it is called premature death. But we should remember that in the case of the human being and the lower animals residing in karmabhūmi it is possible to have such reduction in the experiences of the exhaustion of karma bringing about premature death. Eut there cannot be such reduction of age in the hellish beings, gods, tīrthamkaras and even human beings and lower animals of bhogabhūmi i. e., the land of enjoyment.
Ayukarma extends in its duration to one antarmuhurta at the lowest and 33 crores of sagaropama at the highest. Bhagavati mentions the highest duration as a third part of the purvakoți and 33 sāgaropama. This includes the period of time required for formation of the new life after the karmabandha in the previous life is out off, to the time when the germination of the new life starts. In other words this includes also the period of potentiality (abādhākāla) of ayuşkarma.
Nāma karma
Nama karma is that type of karma which determines the
1 (a) Tattvärthasūtra 8, 11
(b) Prajñāpang 23–1
(c) Uttaradhyayana 33, 12
2 Tattvärthasūtra 2, 52. Pt. Sukhalālji kā vivecan, pp. 112-116.
3 Uttaradhyayana 33, 22.
4 Bhagavati 6, 3
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