Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 7

Author(s): Nand Kishor Prasad
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 7
and conduct as well."19 Making it clear Nathmal Tatia says: “Perverse view or wrong attitude vitiates the whole outlook, and consequently whatever knowledge or action there is, becomes vitiated (mithyā). The perversity of knowledge and conduct depends upon the perversity of attitude. The perverse attitude (Mithyā darśana) defiles, as it were, the very texture of the soul; and it is but natural that all the functions of the soul should be defiled."'20 Thus, Jainism holds that perverse attitude (Mithyā darśana), perverse knowledge (Mithyā jñana) and perverse conduct (Mithya caritra), all the three together constitute the cause of bondage. To be more close and elaborate Mithya-darśana (perverse attitude), Avirat (vowlessness), Pramāda (carelessness), Kaşāya (passions) and Yoga (activities) are the five conditions of bondage.21
Thus liberation consists in escaping from the sãmsăric cycle of four gatis i. e, from the cycle of births and deaths. But it is karma that keeps the soul tied to the cycle of worldly existence. No doubt, after producing its effect the particular karma is purged from the soul, and if this process of discharging the fruit goes on uninterruptedly all the taint of karmamatter must be washed off. But the case is not so simple, as the soul is not only being purged off, it also goes on acquiring karmas all the time by its activities. Thus purging and binding both happen together. So, what is required for achieving liberation is the stoppage of acquiring fresh karma. The control and arrest of fresh inflow of karma is technically known as Sarvara. Umaswami says : To stop the asrava is Sarvara.2! Thus Samvara is opposite to and converse of asrava. “As a lage tank, when its supply of water has been stopped, gradually dries up by the consumption of water and by evaporation, so the Karman of a monk, which he acquired in millions of births, is annihilated by austerities, if there is no influx of bad karman.28
Now as the arrest of asrava is sarvara and we know that there are two kinds of äsrava i. e. bhāvāsrava (Subjective inflow) and dravyāsrava (Objective inflow), so accordingly its arrest (Samvara) is also of two kinds i. e. bhāvasarvara (subjective arrest) and dravyasamvara (objective arrest). Thus the check of bhāvasrava related to the infection of passions is known as bhāvasarvara (Subjective arrest) and the check of dravyāsrava related to the actual invasion of karma particles is known as dravyasaṁvara (Objective arrest). The two kinds of samvara hold the same relation between
19. Tatia, Nathmal, op. cit., p. XIX. 20. Ibid., p. 147.
1. Jaini, J. L., op. cit., VIII. 1. 22. Ibid, IX. 1. 23. Maxmuller, F (Ed.), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XIV p. 174,