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JAINA DOCTRINE OF KARMAN
[CH.
unseen potency (adṛṣṭa). The necessity of the agency of God for the fruition of karman is thus avoided. The Nyaya-Vaiśeşika also in so far as its early adumbration is taken into account has little necessity for the postulation of God. If we are to believe the Yuktidipikā, an early commentary on Iśvarakṛṣṇa's Sankhyakārikā, the introduction of God into the architectonic of the Vaiseṣika system is due to the influence of the Pasupatas.1 But whatever may be the genesis the conception of an omnipotent God has found place in the system since 'Vātsyāyana and Prasastapāda. The other systems could well work without Him. The unseen potency or karman, as determined by the conditions and predispositions of the soul, can automatically produce the fruits. We shall study the Jaina conception of the modus operandi of karman in this chapter, stating also, where possible, the corresponding conceptions in other systems.
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The
The relation between the spirit and the non-spirit is responsible for the worldly existence. Apart from the gross body, there is a subtle body which serves as a link between the spiritual and the non-spiritual. This subtle body is the karmic body of the Jainas and the subtle body (linga-sarira) of the Sankhya-Yoga. We shall discuss the problem of the relation between the subtle body and the soul later on. Vedantin regards the non-spiritual as only an appearance, and yet for him the problem how does the false appearance occur and induce individual selves and the world of plurality is as tough as in the other systems. The Nyaya-Vaiśeṣika and the Mimamsaka regard the unseen potency, as a quality of the soul, responsible for the formation of the gross body with the help of the mind (manas). In Buddhism, the predispositions (vāsanās) or the afflictions (klesas) relate the conscious (nama) with the material (rūpa). According to the Jainas, the vibrations (yoga) and the passions (kaṣāyas) of the soul attract karmic matter and transform it into karmic body. In the Sankhya-Yoga, the subtle body is formed due to the perversions (viparyayas) or afflictions (klesas) of the principle of buddhi which is an evolute of the non-spiritual prakṛti. Here we must distinguish between the SankhyaYoga and the Jaina conceptions. With the Sankhya-Yoga, the principle of consciousness (purusa) is ubiquitous and immutable and therefore undergoes no change. It is only the unconscious prakṛti and its evolutes the buddhi and the like-that are ever changing. The afflictions (kleśas) belong to the buddhi and are responsible for the formation of the subtle body which is nothing but a conglomeration of a number of evolutes of the selfsame prakyti. The position of the Jainas, however, is quite different. The soul, with the Jainas,
evaṁ Kāṇādānām Iśvaro 'sti 'ti Pasupato
1 Cf. Yuktidipikā (p. 88): 'pajñam etat.
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