Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, Manu Doshi
Publisher: Shrutratnakar Ahmedabad

Page 57

JEEV THE SENTIENT ELEMENT
43
(Souls moving from one body to another have only Kärman body. The movement takes place in a straight line or along the series of straight lines. Liberated souls move straight upward. Movement of the worldly souls can be straight or with turns. Movement without turns takes only one Samay. During transit one stays without nourishment for one or two Samays.)
These sutras deal with the movement of soul during transit from one body to another. That movement takes place in straight direction with or without turns. The straight movement can be in four main directions, four oblique directions, upward and downward. The straight movement in any of these ten directions is termed as Rju Gati and that with turns as Vigrah Gati. Moving in straight direction does not need any effort by the soul. The thrust derived at the time of leaving the earlier body is enough to take it to the new destination. That takes only one Samay, which is an infinitesimal part of a second.
Moving in turns needs additional effort, which is provided by the Kärman body composed of the particles of Karma. That movement takes as many additional Samays as the number of turns. Since there cannot be more than three turns, in no case can the transit require more than four Samays. The souls proceeding for liberation invariably move upward. Others may go straight or make turns depending upon their destinations.
सम्मूर्छनगर्भोपपाताजन्म ॥२-३२॥ सचित्तशीतसंवृत्ताः सेतरा मिश्राश्चैकशतद्योनयः ॥२-३३॥ जराटवण्डपोतजानां गर्भः ॥२-३४॥ नारकदेवानामुपपातः ॥२-३५॥