Book Title: Theory of Karman in Indian Thought
Author(s): Koshelya Walli
Publisher: Bharat Manisha

Previous | Next

Page 272
________________ [ 260 ] that mere sain vara is not enough, for it means only restraint and not destruction. What is actually, needed is that karma should not be merely restrained but it should be gradually worn out by means of penance etc. This is called Nirjara. The action of Nirjara wears out the long-standing Kaşāyas, merit and happiness and sorrow. It is by means of Tapas i. e. penance. Nirjara is of two kinds. One is Yatha-Kāla and the other is Aupakramika. The first kind of nirjara means that the karma which has to bear fruit at a time does bear fruit at that time. The other kind of Nirjara is due to the maturity of Kāma etc. Now this is the description of the yathākāla nirjara. The second variety is known as Aupakramika nirjara. The second kind of nirjara is caused by the effect of penances. The first one is due to the maturity of Kama etc. It is also said that sakāma nirjara and akāma nirjara are mutually distinct from each other. The former is meant for the yogīs, the latter is meant for the ordinary people. It is pointed out that there ate two immediate causes which lead · to mokṣa namely samvara and nirjara. Samvara stands in the way of the Karmic matter (Karmapudgala) entering into the Jīvātmā. As a result of this there is no possibility of Kleba Karma containing the soul. Nirjara helps to exhaust the accumulated karmas. In other words the function of one is negative and that of the other is positive. It may be pointed out in this connection that this reminds one of the function of Abhyasa and vairāgya in relation to nirodha in the Patañjala system. Even in that system the function of the two is exactly similar to the method of the Jainas so that vairāgya of the yogi corresponds to the samvara of the Arhata and abhyasa of the yogi corresponds to the Nirjara of the Arhata. When all the karmas are destroyed, the soul rises upto the end of Lokākāśa.1 The Jainas point out that it is only on account of the influence of karma that the soul is compelled to come down and remain embodied in the worldly plane, but when karma disappears there is no longer any attachment left in the soul which 1. Compare Tattvasūtra, x, 5.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377