Karma, Âsrava and Nirjarâ.
It is on account of karma that the souls have to suffer all the experiences of this world process, including births and rebirths in diverse spheres of life as gods, men or animals, or insects. The karmas are certain sorts of infra-atomic particles of matter (karma-varga@nâ}. The influx of these karma particles into the soul is called âsrava in Jainism. These karmas are produced by body, mind, and speech. The âsravas represent the channels or modes through which the karmas enter the soul, just like the channels through which water enters into a pond. But the Jains distinguish between the channels and the karmas which actually
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[Footnote 1: The stages through which a developing soul passes are technically called gu@nasthânas which are fourteen in number. The first three stages represent the growth of faith in Jainism, the next five stages are those in which all the passions are controlled, in the next four stages the ascetic practises yoga and destroys all his karmas, at the thirteenth stage he is divested of all karmas but he still practises yoga and at the fourteenth stage he attains liberation (see Dravyasa@mgrahav@rtti, 13th verse).]
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enter through those channels. Thus they distinguish two kinds of âsravas, bhâvâsrava and karmâsrava. Bhâvâsrava means the thought activities of the soul through which or on account of which the karma particles enter the soul [Footnote ref 1]. Thus Nemicandra says that bhâvâsrava is that kind of change in the soul (which is the contrary to what can destroy the karmâsrava), by which the karmas enter the soul [Footnote ref 2]. Karmâsrava, however, means the actual entrance of the karma matter into the soul. These bhâvâsravas are in general of five kinds, namely delusion (mithyâtva), want of control (avirati), inadvertence (pramâda), the activities of body, mind and speech (yoga) and the passions (ka@sâyas). Delusion again is of five kinds, namely ekânta (a false belief unknowingly accepted and uncritically followed), viparîta (uncertainty as to the exact nature of truth), vinaya (retention of a belief knowing it to be false, due to old habit), sa@ms'aya (doubt as to right or wrong) and ajñâna (want of any belief due to the want of application of reasoning powers). Avirati is again of five kinds, injury (hi@msâ), falsehood (an@rta), stealing (cauryya), incontinence (abrahma), and desire to have things which one does not already possess (parigrahâkâ@nk@sâ). Pramâda or inadvertence is again of five kinds, namely bad conversation (vikathâ), passions (ka@sâya), bad use of the five senses (indriya), sleep (nidrâ), attachment (râga) [Footnote ref 3].
Coming to dravyâsrava we find that it means that actual influx of karma which affects the soul in eight different manners in accordance with which these karmas are classed into eight different kinds, namely jñânâvara@nîya, dars'anâvara@nîya, vedanîya, mohanîya, âyu, nâma, gotra and antarâya. These actual influxes take place only as a result of the bhâvâsrava or the reprehensible thought activities, or changes (pari@nâma) of the soul. The states of thought which condition the coming in of the karmas is called bhâvabandha and the actual bondage of the soul by the actual impure connections of the karmas is technically called dravyabandha. It is on account of bhâvabandha that the actual connection between the karmas and the soul can take place [Footnote ref 4]. The actual connections of the karmas with the soul are like the sticking
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[Footnote 1: Dravyasa@mgraha, S'I. 29.]
[Footnote 2: Nemicandra's commentary on Dravyasa@mgraha, S'I. 29, edited by S.C. Ghoshal, Arrah, 1917.]