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114
TATTVĀRTHA SŪTRA
which is beginningless never suffers destruction ?
Answer : The two types of body in question are beginningless not quâ individual entities but quâ streams of entities. Hence they too undergo increment as well as diminution. Only that entity of a positive form which is beginningless quâ an individual entity never suffers destruction; e.g. an atom.
Those Entitled to Them :
The taijasa and kārmaņa types of body are possessed by all the worldly souls whatsoever but not so the audārika, vaikriya and āhāraka types. Hence those entitled to the taijasa and kārmaņa types of body include all the worldly souls, while those entitled to the types audārika etc. include only some among them.
Question : Let something be told by way of distinguishing between a taijasa type of body and a kārmaņa type.
Answer : The kārmaņa type of body is the root-cause of the remaining types. For this body is of the form of karmas while karmas constitute the occasioning cause of all bodily functioning whatsoever. On the other hand, the taijasa type of body is not in this way the occasioning cause of all bodily functioning whatsoever; it rather remains connected with all souls whatsoever and as such renders assistance in acts like digesting the consumed food. 41-43.
The Number of Bodies Simultaneously Available to a Soul :
The taijasa and kārmana—these two types of body are in possession of the worldly souls throughout the period of their worldly existence; but the types audārika etc. are exchanged for one another and hence they are sometimes available to a soul, sometimes they are not. So the question arises as to what is the maximum and what is the minimum number of bodies that can be simultaneously in possession of a soul. The question is answered in the present aphorism. Thus a worldly soul can possess two bodies at the least and four at the most; it cannot
1. The same idea is expressed also in the Gītā : nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate satah. / 2.16.
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