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A Comparative Study of Jainism and Buddhism - Brahmacharit Sital Prasadji, 1934 - Complete Book

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standard, ‘“ How could he have committed such an act, or followed such a conduct ?"’ It was not the least like what he appeared to others and probably to himself.’ What did it denote ? It denoted, Buddhists say, part at any rate of what he really was, a hidden but true aspect of his actual self, or in other words his karmic tendencies.”’ Page 15. “By death is here meant, according to the abhidhamma, the ceasing of psychic life of one’s individual existence, or to express it in the words of a western philosopher, the temporary end of a temporary phenomenon of the so-called being, for, although the organic life has ceased, the force which hither-to actuated it, is ‘not destroyed. As the kammic force remains entirely undisturbed by the dis-integration of the fleeting body, the passing away of the present con- sciousness only conditions a fresh one in another birth.” 206 JAINISM AND BUDDHISM “The new being which is the present manifestation of the stream of kamma energy is not the same as, and has no identity with, the previous one in its line; the agregate that makes up its composition being different from, and having no identity with those that make up the being of its predecessor. And yet it is not an entirely different being, since the same stream of kamma energy, though modified per-chance just by having shown itself in. that last manifestation, which is now making its presence known in the _ sense-perceptible world as the new thing ” (na@ ca so na cha anno)— (neither the same nor another). (11) The tract The Bodhi Satta Ideal by the same author Narada Bhiksu. | Page 18. ‘ No person what-so-ever is exempt from the inexorable law of Kamma. It is law in itself. It alone determines the future birth of every individual. A Bodhisatta enjoys the special privilege of not seeking birth in eighteen states, in the course of his wanderings in Sansara, as the result of the potential Kammic force accumulated by him. | Note. The above statements clearly show the same kind of description of karmas as the Jain literature says and the Jains understand. We give below some description of the karmic philosophy according to the Jain scriptures in short. KARMAS AND THEIR FRUITS 207 KARMIC PHILOSOPHY OF THE JAINS. As karmas are attracted and bound. they must be material in nature They are the karmic molecules made up of material particles: they are very fine, not cognizable by the senses. They are floating throughout the whole universe. As their fruition is material there- fore they are matter. Just as a person may speak and act like a mad man—a reasonable man will infer from it that he has taken some intoxicating thing, similarly when it is proved that the nature of the real self is what is called Nirvéna where there is not any material bondage nor any mentation or Sanskara, then whatever conditions of anger, pride, deceit, greed, etc. appear in the mundane life of the self must have been caused in association with something different from the self. That which is associated with the self in mundane existence is that which is called Karma. Anger etc. passions can never be the nature of the real self, because when anger arises, body trembles, eyes become red. Body is matter and some matter has made material effect on it, therefore that which has made the body tremble must be a material thing. It proves that anger is a material poison or dirt. Just as red and green waters show that there is mixture of red and green coloured matter with water, so anger etc. impure thought-activities prove that there is mixture of some dirt with the soul. And that dirt must be opposed to ie ‘ 208 JAINISM AND BUDDHISM the soul which is really non-material. This is nothing else but karmic matter. id There are three acting agents in the mundane soul. — They are mind, body and speech. As these three any of the three are in joint connection everywhere Y the soul, so whenever any activity through them happens, there occurs some wavering or vibration in the soul. At the very time when vibrations occur in the ‘mundane soul, the attractive power called yoga inherent in the soul begins to work. Yoga is a force which attracts karmic matter towards the soul and connects the same with it. This force of yoga attracts karmic molecules which are mixed with the other previously collected molecules in the karmic fine body which is continually coming on with the mundane soul. It should be noted that in this beginningless world pheno- mena, this mundane soul was never free from this karmic body. It is continually coming on in bondage. Through the fruition of different kinds of karmas in that fine body, there happen birth, death and different kinds of miseries. When any person dies, this karmic body is not left here. It goes with the mundane soul ; only outer physicial body is left. The mundane soul going with the karmic body at once takes another birth under the influence of its karmas which are in operation. Old karmic molecules must shed off at the proper time whether they fructify or not from this karmic body and — Ee KARMAS AND THEIR FRUITS ; 209 new molecules are added to it, which are attracted by yoga power, when any of the three, mind, body and speech is working and causing soul vibrations. This shedding and binding is going on in all the mundane souls at every instant. Vegetable, animal, human and other beings all have to obey this karmic law. The Jain scripture, therefore, describes this mun- dane soul as material like, because it is totally obscured by material karmas just as sky is obscured by smoke, sun-light is obscured by clouds or water is made impure by dirt. If once all the karmic molecules are shed off, this soul will at once attain Nirvdna and remain non- material, and it is in essence like a sky. As the nature of pure sky is not affected by matter, so the nature of pure liberated soul cannot be affected by karmas. In the mundane life, this soul is from beginningless time totally obscured by karmic matter. It is why it experiences its fruits good or bad. Saint Amritachandra says in Tattvaérthasara :— TS: AHUAAHAM APT FAA | AA Baal AVN A ara: BTA: | 23 aq FATA DosAAetE Ta shake: | agaerqaat fe at Aa: HARE Il 22 I Maas HAT ATCO HA ALAA | aaIAad Hata AE: HIT SEAT Hh Vs I aa aeaotate: aeaqa: BARAT: | 27 210 JAINISM AND BUDDHISM aqd Raasinae afaes fate: | ee I TANT PAA CAS BAACAA: | THAN AAT TAA ATAAA | VS I ates eT ATA: | BTIM MAT: AUT TTS BAT: | Le TM T AAA TU wazaarg | TA HAS WA AA ATH | LS I Yajjtvah sakasdyattvat karmano yogya pudgalaén Adatte sarvato yog at sa bandhah kathito Jinaith 13 Na Karmama guno murtestasya bandha prasiddhitah, Auugrahopaghdatau hi na murteh Kartu marhate 14 Audartka dikaryanam Karnam karma murti mat, Nahyamurten murtad nd marambhah kvdépi drsyate 15 Nacha bandha prasiddhih syan murtath karmabhirdt- manah, Amurte rittya ne kantdttasya murtitva siddhitah 16 Anddt nittyasambandhat saha karmabhirdtmanah Amurtasyapt satyai Kye murtatva-mavasi yate 17 Bandham prati bhavetyai Kyama-nyonya nupravesa tah 18 Tathad cha murti mandtma surabhi-bhava darsandt, Nahya murtasya nabhaso, madira mada Kérini 19 ‘“ Taking in. karmic material molecules from all- round through attracting power yoga by the passionate soul has been said to be bondage by the Jina 13. ‘Karma is not any non-material attribute of the non-material soul, because neither ‘the non-material KARMAS AND THEIR FRUITS 211 objects can be bound nor can there be destruction or any mutual benefit between non-material ones.” 14. “Mundane souls have got physicial bodies etc. which are material and created; their creating cause must therefore be the material karmas: because creation of material objects is never seen by any non-material thing.” 15 * Bondage of this mundane soul by the material karmas is not an unproved fact, although from the real point of view this soul is non-material, yet from the practical standpoint it is like a material thing.” 16 “ There is beginningless and continual connection of this mundane soul with the karmas, therefore the soul being non-material by nature is seen as material, as it is intermixed with the material karmas.”’ 17 “Just as gold and silver when melted together become one mixture, so also there is mixture of soul and karmas on account of its bondage with karmas.” 18 “This mundane soul is material, because.its know- ledge is seen to be affected on drinking intoxicating liquor ; while sky being non-material cannot be affected Dyke, 19 The mundane soul is from beginningless time con- tinually coming mixed with material karmas. Yoga power attracts them and passionate thoughts make them stay for greater or less time. ate JAINISM AND BUDDHISM When karmic bondage occurs, it appears in four kinds, therefore bondage is said to be of four kinds. Dravya Sangraha says :— qaistziz agurrasaaure ag faataat | Sr qateszear ets agar Hara ete Il Paya di thidi anu bhaga ppadesa-bheda du chadu vidho bandho, Joga payadt pradesa thidi anu-bhaga kasd yado hontt ‘“ Bondage is of four kinds, Prakriti or class-bond- age, sthiti or duration bondage, anubhaga or fruition bondage, and pradesa or molecular bondage; of these class and molecular bondages are caused by yoga or attractive power working and soul vibrations; and dura- tion and fruition bondages are caused by passions. When karmic molecules are bound, then they assume different kinds of nature according to different thought-activities of the being, this is called Prakriti Bandha. The number of molecules bound for each class or sub-class bearing different natures is called fradesa bandha. The bound up molecules will be exhausted till such a period—this duration is called sthiti bandha.