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Tattvārthasūtra
'Name' is that by which the soul is designated, i.e., name-determining (nāma) karma. That by which one is called high or low is the statusdetermining (gotra) karma. That which comes between the host and the guest, the giving of gift, and so on, is obstructive (antarāya) karma. As the food taken once gets transformed into various things like blood and other fluids, similarly, the karmic-matter taken in by the soul gets transformed into various kinds of karmas, like the knowledgecovering (jñānāvaraņa), due to the modifications of the soul. Is there any logic behind the particular sequence given to the eight karmas? Yes, there is. The worldly soul sees, acquires knowledge, and develops belief, in that order. Thus, faith (darśana), knowledge (jñāna) and right-belief (samyaktva) are inherent attributes (guņa) of the soul. These three attributes are complemented by energy (vīrya). Four karmas, called the destructive (ghāti) karmas - perceptionobscuring (darśanāvaraņa), knowledge-obscuring (jñānāvaraņa), deluding (mohanīya), and obstructive (antarāya) - are responsible for causing obstruction to these attributes (guņa) of the soul. Although in case of worldly beings - chadmastha, not vītarāga – faith (darśana) occurs before knowledge (jnana), still, knowledge (jñāna) is considered more venerable (pūjya). Therefore, knowledge-obscuring (jñānāvaraņa) karma gets precedence over perception-obscuring (darśanāvaraņa) karma. After these two karmas, deluding (mohanīya) karma and obstructive (antarāya) karma should be mentioned. Although feeling-producing (vedanīya) karma is nondestructive (aghāti), still, on the strength of deluding (mohanīya) karma that causes likes and dislikes through the senses, it acts like a destructive (ghāti) karma and, therefore, placed in midst of destructive (ghāti) karmas, before deluding (mohanīya) karma. On acquisition of the life-span (āyuḥ) in a particular mode (paryāya) of existence, the soul acquires body, etc., and, further, status is determined. Thus, the sequence of karmas is life-determining (āyuḥ), name-determining (nāma), and status-determining (gotra). Obstructive (antarāya) karma, although designated as a destructive
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