Hindi Jain Gitikavya Me Karm Siddhant - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Hindi Jain Gitikavya me Karm Siddhant" by Shreechand Jain, based on the provided pages:

The book "Hindi Jain Gitikavya me Karm Siddhant" by Shreechand Jain delves into the profound and scientific concept of the Karm Siddhant (theory of karma) within Jain philosophy, particularly as it is reflected in Jain devotional poetry (Gitikavya).

The Core of Jain Karm Siddhant:

Nature of the Soul and Karma: The text emphasizes that karma is what pollutes the soul's inherent pure nature. When karma is burned away through spiritual practice, the soul, free from blemishes, shines with divine radiance and achieves its ultimate goal.
The Cycle of Bondage: The soul, bound by karma, forgets its true nature and falls into the mire of attachment and aversion (raag-dwesh), thus corrupting its own brilliance.
Poetic Depiction of Bondage: The author cites the poet Daulatram to illustrate this, describing how the soul, from time immemorial, has forgotten the path to liberation, consumed by delusion (moha), embraced sensory pleasures, and become entangled in mental impurities. Despite obtaining a human birth and the teachings of the Jinas, the soul often disregards them.
The Importance of Devotional Practice: The text highlights the folly of forgetting the devotion to the divine. It portrays worldly life as a dream, possessions as bubbles, and the constant threat of time. It argues that pursuing self-interest while neglecting the welfare of others leads to suffering and that true happiness is unattainable through actions that are the root of misery.
The Cause of Obstruction: In the spiritual development of a seeker, the power that creates obstacles is called karma.

Different Philosophical Interpretations of Karma:

The book acknowledges that various Indian philosophical schools use the term "karma" with different meanings:

Grammarians: Define karma as that which is highly desired by the doer.
Mimamsa School: Considers ritualistic actions (like sacrifices) as karma.
Vaisheshika Philosophy: Defines karma as residing in a substance, devoid of qualities, and not requiring any other cause for conjunction and disjunction.
Samkhya Philosophy: Uses karma to mean "samskara" (impressions or latent tendencies).
Bhagavad Gita: Considers activity as karma and inaction as inferior.
Mahabharata: Defines karma as the power that binds the soul, stating that beings are bound by karma and freed by knowledge.
Buddhist Literature: Attributes the diversity of beings to the diversity of their karmas.

The Jain Perspective on Karma:

The Jain Text "Mahabandha": The text mentions the existence of a Jain text in Prakrit called "Mahabandha," which describes the state of karmic bondage and consists of forty thousand verses.
The Mechanism of Karmic Bondage (Jain View): Jain Acharyas explain that when the soul's constituents (pradesh) vibrate, particles of matter (pudgal) are attracted and unite with the soul, forming karma.
Amritchandrasuri's Explanation: The commentator Amritchandrasuri defines karma as the action that is attainable by the soul. The resulting transformation of matter due to that action is also called karma.
- Bhavakarma (Mental Karma): The internal states (feelings, inclinations) that attract matter to the soul.
- Dravyakarman (Material Karma): The actual particles of matter that cause defilement in the soul.
Akalankadeva's Analogy: Swami Akalankadeva uses an analogy of seeds of various tastes placed in a vessel, which transform into wine due to the vessel and other causes. Similarly, the soul's pudgals transform into karma through causes like anger, pride, deceit, greed (kashayas) and the vibrations of mind, speech, and body (yoga).
The Soul's Potentiality: The "Panchadhyayi" states that the soul has a potential power that causes defilement when it comes into contact with clusters of matter, influenced by the soul's own states.
The Nature of the Bond: The union of soul and matter, while creating a new state of bondage (bandh), does not make the soul inert or the matter sentient. In this state of bondage, both the soul and matter lose their original qualities and form a new entity. The soul, filled with attachment and aversion, attracts karmic matter like a magnet attracts iron.
The Role of Attachment and Aversion: The ignorant soul creates concepts of like and dislike in objects, leading to attachment and aversion, which in turn cause strong karmic bondage. This cycle continues as long as attachment and aversion, and delusion persist. Actions performed without attachment and aversion do not lead to bondage.

Kundakunda's Analogy:

The text quotes Kundakunda's "Samaysara," which explains that just as oil applied to the body causes dust to stick during exercise, similarly, attachment and aversion act as "oil" that makes karmic dust cling to the soul, making it impure and dependent. Without this "oil" of attachment and aversion, the same actions do not cause this binding.

The Eight Types of Karmas in Jainism:

The book then details the eight main types of karma, which obscure the soul's pure nature:

Ghatia Karmas (Destructive Karmas): These directly obstruct the soul's essential qualities.
- Jnanaavarniya Karma (Knowledge-Obscuring Karma): Obscures the soul's knowledge, hindering its full development. Examples include the dimming of sunlight by a veil. It has five sub-types that obscure different kinds of knowledge (mati, shrut, avadhi, manahparyaya, keval).
- Darshanavarniya Karma (Perception-Obscuring Karma): Obscures the soul's perception (darshan). It has nine sub-types, including sleep-related states and obscuration of different modes of perception.
- Mohaniya Karma (Delusion-Causing Karma): Creates delusion, irrationality, and perversity in the soul's inclinations and conduct. It is divided into:
  - Darshan Mohaniya: Affects right faith and understanding (types: mithyatva, samyag-mithyatva, samyaktva).
  - Charitra Mohaniya: Affects conduct and character (types: anger, pride, deceit, greed, each with four sub-types like anantānu bandhi, apratyākhyāna, etc., totaling 16).
  - Nokashayas (Minor Passions): Included with Mohaniya are nine minor passions like laughter, pleasure, displeasure, grief, fear, disgust, and the three genders (male, female, neutral), bringing the total sub-types of Mohaniya to twenty-eight.
  - Significance of Mohaniya: This karma is the most powerful and pervasive, shaping an individual's character. It causes confusion, the mistaking of the non-self for the self, and leads to various vices. Under its influence, the soul becomes intoxicated, forgets right and wrong, and falls into lower realms.
- Antaraya Karma (Obstruction-Causing Karma): Hinders the soul's abilities, such as giving, earning, enjoying temporary pleasures, and exercising strength. It has five sub-types: Dana (giving), Labha (gaining), Bhoga (enjoying once), Upabhoga (enjoying repeatedly), and Virya (strength).
Aghatia Karmas (Non-Destructive Karmas): These do not directly destroy the soul's qualities but hinder its progress when under the influence of Mohaniya karma.
- Vedaniya Karma (Feeling-Causing Karma): Produces pleasant (saata) or unpleasant (asata) sensations (happiness or suffering).
- Ayush Karma (Lifespan Karma): Determines the duration of life in different species (deva, naraka, manushya, tiryancha). The text stresses that no external force, including deities or prayers, can alter the lifespan determined by Ayush karma.
- Nama Karma (Name-Form Karma): Creates the physical form and characteristics of the soul, including physical attributes, species, and the diversity of life forms. It is likened to a painter creating various images. It is considered the actual creator or Brahma in Jainism, responsible for the 8.4 million life forms.
- Gotra Karma (Status/Clan Karma): Determines one's social standing, lineage, and family background. It is not based on birth alone but on conduct and tradition. High status is achieved through virtuous actions and humility, leading to birth in noble families, while low status results from negative conduct and birth in degraded families. The text clarifies that this is distinct from the caste system found in other traditions, emphasizing conduct.

The Soul's Responsibility and the Illusion of External Help:

Self-Created Destiny: The text strongly reiterates that the soul is solely responsible for its actions (karma) and their consequences. No external entity, be it a god or another being, can intervene to alter the fruit of one's karma.
The Futility of Blaming Others: The idea that someone else can cause another's happiness or suffering is dismissed as ignorance. If others could truly influence our fate, then performing good deeds or fearing bad ones would be pointless.
Poetic Illustrations of Self-Responsibility: The author quotes poets like Daulatram, Banarasi Das, and Bhaghchand, who use poetic verses to emphasize that each soul experiences the fruits of its own karma, that relationships are often transactional, and that the ultimate goal is self-realization and liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
The Inevitability of Karmic Consequences: The text uses the example of poet Dharmapal, who advises that karmic suffering can only be overcome by enduring it. Seeking help from others is futile.

The Nature of the Soul-Karma Bond:

Beginningless but Potentially Endless: The text addresses the question of whether the soul-karma bond is beginningless or has a start. It asserts that the continuity of karma is beginningless.
Analogy of Gold: Just as gold extracted from a mine is impure but can be purified through fire and chemicals, the soul, impure due to beginningless karma, can be purified through spiritual practices like penance and self-knowledge.
The Difference Between the Bound and the Liberated: Those who do not pursue spiritual practice remain bound and suffer, while those who do, achieve liberation and become like gods (Siddhas).
Saadi (Beginning-Ended) vs. Anaadi (Beginningless) in Perspective: The text clarifies that while the continuous stream of karma is beginningless, from the perspective of a specific manifestation (paryaya), the bond has a beginning. It uses the analogy of a seed and a tree: the relationship is beginningless in the continuous causal chain, but a specific tree has a beginning from its seed.
Ending the Beginningless: The author challenges the notion that anything beginningless must also be endless. A beginningless relationship can be severed by opposing causes, as the soul-karma bondage can be broken through spiritual effort.

Conclusion:

The book concludes by emphasizing that the ultimate goal of the soul in Jainism is liberation from worldly bonds through continuous effort. It reiterates that the soul's destiny is determined by its self-acquired karma, making virtuous conduct (dharma-acharan) essential. The text also highlights that Jain philosophers have absolved their "Paramatma" (Supreme Soul/God) of any doshas (flaws) related to creation and have placed full responsibility for actions on each individual soul. The concept of destiny, fate, or the cycle of circumstances is acknowledged but ultimately framed within the context of individual karma.