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TATTVÄRTHA SUTRA
objects, depending upon his likes or dislikes. For instance, if he comes across the pleasant flavor, he feels elated; if he comes across the stinking odor, he resents it. Such sense of attachment or aversion for any situation causes Sämparäyik Äsrav.
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The fourth pertains to a few specific activities. Violence results in the most hurtful Äsrav. Depriving a being of its Prän (vital life force) is violence. There are ten Präns, viz. five sense organs, mind, speech, body, respiration and age span. This sutra mentions that there are 25 activities that tend to deprive Prän and hence result in Sämparäyik Äsrav. But the list given in the commentaries does not seem to be coherent, because that includes a few, e.g. activities in consonance with right perception, which do not lead to Sämparäyik Äsrav. Every activity leads to Äsrav, but Sämpräyik Äsrav would occur only if it is undertaken with the sense of attachment or resentment. The activity undertaken with a detached mind leads only to Iryäpathik Äsrav and Karma acquired thereby can be erased in no time.
Karma resulting from the above factors is not of the same intensity. Its intensity mainly depends upon four factors. The first is the degree of attachment, with which an activity is undertaken. If the degree is higher, the intensity of bondage is higher and if the degree is lower, the intensity is lower. The second relates to the condition in which something is done. Whether it is done knowingly or unknowingly makes a difference. When a person is knowingly involved in a wrong activity, the resulting bondage is of higher intensity, while getting unknowingly involved would result in bondage of lower intensity. The third is the vigor put in the activity. The stronger
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