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THE JAINA THEORY OF KARMA
179 spirit and matter. This kārmāna sarira is the vehicle of transmigration, and passes from life to life. There are periodic changes taking place mechanically in the constitution of this inner body or vestment of the soul, and the form and conditions of the next incarnation of life are determined by the new set of energies which arise in consequence of these changes. This is how nature forces the fruit of its actions on the soul, which the soul has no power to resist, except with the help of dharma (religion). No judge or magistrate is required nicely to adjust and determine the rewards and punishments merited by living beings; they adjust themselves, most accurately, mechanically. The kārmāna sarira is modified by action, and itself determines the type and conditions of the next incarnation. As Mr. J. L. Jaini observes (“Outlines of Jainism,” p. 29) :
“It is not fate, nor even predestination : but it is the ever-continuous balancing of the different accounts that we keep with the forces of life. There can be no mistake, no suppression, and no evasion. The credit and debit sides go on automatically; and whatever is due to us is paid us ungrudgingly and without demand. The continuity cannot be broken by change of house; the debts of London are not extinguished by going to Berlin: nor is the liquidation suspended till the Day of Judgment. The karmas are not extinguished simply because we give up the body called A. When we are dead as A, the karmas must still bear full fruits. The karmas constitute the karmic body; and it drags us into another state of being."
What is this karmic body, the karmāņa sarira, which plays such an important part in the scheme of transmigration? We have already said that it is the compound of spirit and matter, the effect of the union of the soul with the non-soul, the resultant of its actions. It is invisible to the eye, though it is the summation of our character, what we are and what we have been. It is also the seed of rebirth, the determining factor in the life to come-what we shall be. Its absence will make it impossible for the soul to incarnate in flesh and blood ; for he who is free from the crippling companionship of matter must be pure divinity in actual manifestation, and there is no power in nature which can drag a God into bondage and transmigration.
The next tattva is samvara, which signifies the stoppage of asrava. When the influx of fresh karmic material has ceased, it becomes easy to destroy the existing bonds. The process of the destruction of karmic bonds is known as nirjarā which is the point
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