Jain Bauddh Aur Gita Me Karm Siddhant

This document is a summary of the book "Jain, Bauddh Aur Gita Me Karm Siddhant" (The Doctrine of Karma in Jainism, Buddhism, and the Gita) by Prof. Sagarmal Jain, published by Prakrit Bharati Academy, Jaipur.

Here's a comprehensive summary of the key points discussed in the provided text, covering the various chapters and their themes:

Overall Theme: The book explores and compares the concept of Karma across three major Indian philosophical traditions: Jainism, Buddhism, and the Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism). It delves into the origins, principles, causes, effects, and liberation from the cycle of karma.

Chapter 1: The Doctrine of Karma

• Place of Karma in Ethical Thought: The doctrine of karma is fundamental to Indian ethical systems, providing a causal explanation for moral actions and their consequences. It establishes the link between actions and their results, ensuring moral accountability.
• Fundamental Tenets and Implications:
  • Every action has a consequence.
  • The doer of the action is the experiencer of its results.
  • The cycle of karma and its fruition is beginningless (anadi).
  • The concept of karma implies the continuity of personality (past influences present, present influences future), rebirth, and the immortality of the soul.
• Origins of the Doctrine: The doctrine of karma is traced back to early Indian thought, with Jainism credited for its comprehensive and systematic development. Early Vedic literature had nascent ideas (like 'Rita'), but the Upanishads began to grapple with the concept, though without a definitive system.
• Various Theories of Causality: The book reviews various theories that attempted to explain the cause of worldly phenomena and individual differences, including:
  • Kalavada (Time-Determinism): Time as the sole cause.
  • Swabhavavada (Nature-Determinism): Inherent nature of things as the cause.
  • Niyativada (Fate-Determinism): Predetermined events as the cause.
  • Yadrichchhavada (Chance-Determinism): Randomness or coincidence as the cause.
  • Mahabhutavada (Elemental-Determinism): The five elements as the cause.
  • Prakritivada (Material-Determinism): The three-fold Prakriti (Sankhya) as the cause.
  • Ishvaravada (God-Determinism): God's will as the cause. These theories are critiqued by Jain and Buddhist traditions, paving the way for the karma doctrine.
• Upanishadic Perspective: While Upanishads reviewed external causes, they attempted to find internal ones. Shvetashvatara Upanishad questions various causes but ultimately points towards Brahman (God) as the ultimate cause, though its exact role as a cause remains complex.
• Gita's Perspective: The Gita acknowledges various causal factors (time, nature, fate, God) but doesn't adhere to a single one, allowing for a synthesis. Ultimately, it points to God as the supreme cause.
• Buddhist Perspective: Buddhism rejects Ishvaravada and posits karma as the primary cause for the diversity of the world. Karma is seen as the driving force of the universe and beings.
• Jain Perspective: Jainism systematically analyzes and critiques various deterministic theories, establishing karma as the fundamental cause for the diversity and experiences of beings. It integrates elements of other theories in a nuanced way, emphasizing the soul's agency.
• Jain Synthesis: Jain philosophy attempts a harmonious synthesis of factors like time, nature, fate, past karma, and individual effort (purushartha).
• Meaning of 'Karma': The word 'karma' signifies 'action' in a broad sense, encompassing mental, verbal, and physical activities.
  • Gita: Includes all actions, intentions, and even the resolve not to act.
  • Buddhism: Emphasizes consciousness (chetana) as the core of karma, encompassing mental, verbal, and physical actions influenced by consciousness.
  • Jainism: Views karma as subtle physical particles that attach to the soul due to its passions, affecting its inherent qualities. It encompasses the action, intention, and result.
• Physical Nature of Karma (Jainism): Jainism posits karma as a subtle physical substance (pudgala) that adheres to the soul, impacting its purity and inherent powers. The soul's passions (kashayas) attract these karmic particles.
• Interplay of Physical and Non-physical: The book discusses the reciprocal influence between the soul's mental states (bhava karma) and the karmic particles (dravya karma).
• Tangibility of Karma: Jainism argues for the tangibility of karmic matter based on its observable effects, analogous to how fire causes heat.
• Tradition of Karma and Vipaka: The relationship between action (karma) and its fruition (vipaka) is discussed as a continuous cycle.
• Distribution of Karmic Results: Jainism firmly states that individuals reap the consequences of their own actions, rejecting the idea of sharing or transferring karmic fruits.
• Stages of Karma (Jainism): The text outlines the ten stages of karma: bandha (bondage), sankrama (transformation), utkarsana (intensification), apavartana (mitigation), satta (existence), udaya (fruition), udreena (premature fruition), upashaman (suppression), nidhiti (fixed state), and nikachana (unalterable state).
• Determinism and Non-determinism: Jainism accepts both determinism (for certain, intense actions) and non-determinism (through effort and spiritual practice), balancing fate with free will.
• Objections and Rebuttals: The book addresses common criticisms of the karma doctrine, such as its perceived mechanical nature, lack of consideration for psychological factors, and apparent contradiction with divine grace.

Chapter 2: Karma - Its Unwholesomeness, Wholesomeness, and Purity

• Three Types of Karma:
  • Jainism: Iryapathik Karma (pure/non-binding), Punya Karma (meritorious/wholesome), Pap Karma (demeritorious/unwholesome).
  • Buddhism: Avyakta (neutral), Kushala (skillful/wholesome), Akushala (unskillful/unwholesome).
  • Gita: Karma (action), Vikarma (wrong action), Akarma (actionlessness/pure action).
• Unwholesome (Sinful) Karma: Defined as actions that bind the soul, cause its downfall, deplete its powers, and lead to suffering for oneself and others. Root causes are identified as passion (rag), aversion (dvesh), and delusion (moha).
• Wholesome (Meritorious) Karma: Actions that lead to social and material equilibrium, balance mind, body, and environment, and inspire spiritual growth. It's described as the influx of wholesome karmic matter.
• Criteria for Goodness/Badness: The text highlights the debate between focusing on the external form of the action versus the agent's intention. While intention is primary for liberation (moksha), external actions also have social implications. Jainism adopts a synthesis, valuing both internal intention and external behavior.
• Towards Purity (Akarm/Akarma): The ultimate goal is to transcend both good and bad karma, reaching a state of pure, non-binding action (akarma or iryapathik karma), characterized by detachment and freedom from passions.

Chapter 3: Causes, Nature, and Process of Karmic Bondage

• Bondage and Suffering: Bondage is identified as the fundamental cause of suffering and the central concern of Indian philosophies.
• Cause of Bondage - Asrava: The influx of karmic matter into the soul due to passions (kashayas) and activities (yoga) is the cause of bondage.
  • Jainism: Identifies 38 types of Samparayik Asrava and 25 types of activities leading to bondage, fundamentally driven by passions (rag, dvesh, moh).
  • Buddhism: The concept of Pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination) explains the causal chain leading to suffering, with Avidya (ignorance) and Trishna (craving) as primary drivers.
  • Gita: Bondage arises from desire, attachment, ego, anger, and delusion, leading to actions performed with attachment and egoity.
• Eight Types of Karma (Jainism): The detailed classification of eight karmas and their causes/effects is presented:
  1. Jnana-avaraniya Karma: Obscures knowledge. Causes: denigrating the learned, hiding knowledge, hindering knowledge acquisition.
  2. Darshana-avaraniya Karma: Obscures perception. Causes: disrespecting right view, promoting false views.
  3. Vedaniya Karma: Causes pleasant (shata) or unpleasant (ashata) sensations. Causes of pleasant sensations: compassion, non-violence, charity. Causes of unpleasant sensations: violence, deceit, anger.
  4. Mohaniya Karma: Causes delusion and infatuation. Types: Darshana-mohaniya (delusion about reality) and Charitra-mohaniya (delusion about conduct). Causes: ignorance, attachment, aversion, ego, deceit.
  5. Ayushya Karma: Determines lifespan and type of rebirth. Causes depend on the nature of past actions (e.g., extreme violence leads to hellish birth, compassion to human or divine birth).
  6. Nama Karma: Determines personality traits, physical form, and subtle characteristics. Causes: simplicity of body, speech, and mind, absence of ego.
  7. Gotra Karma: Determines social status and lineage. Causes: humility leads to high gotra, ego leads to low gotra.
  8. Antaraya Karma: Obstructs giving, gaining, enjoying, and exerting power. Causes: preventing others from charitable acts, hoarding, or misusing abilities.
• Ghati and Aghati Karma:
  • Ghati Karma (Destructive): Jnana-avaraniya, Darshana-avaraniya, Mohaniya, and Antaraya Karma. These directly obscure the soul's inherent qualities. Mohaniya Karma is considered the most potent, as it fuels the cycle of other karmas.
  • Aghati Karma (Non-destructive): Ayushya, Nama, Gotra, and Vedaniya Karma. These affect the soul's manifestation in the physical world but do not obscure its core nature.
• Pratītyasamutpāda and Astakarma: A comparative analysis of Buddhist dependent origination (Pratītyasamutpāda) with the Jain eight karmas highlights similarities in explaining the causal chain of suffering and rebirth. Avidya (ignorance) in Buddhism is comparable to Darshana-mohaniya in Jainism.
• Mahayana Buddhism: The Mahayana classification of karma into Gneya-avarana (obscuring knowledge) and Klesha-avarana (obscuring passions) aligns with Ghati karmas.
• Karmabhava and Utpattibhava: These Buddhist terms are related to the generation of new karmic influences (karmabhava) and their manifestation in the current life (utpattibhava), comparable to the Jain concepts of karmic bondage and fruition.
• Various Aspects of Consciousness and Bondage: The role of consciousness in bondage is explored, emphasizing that it is not merely passive awareness but the volitional and emotional aspects (intentions, desires, passions) that create karmic ties.

Chapter 4: Towards Liberation from Bondage (Samvara and Nirjara)

• Samvara (Cessation of Influx): The process of stopping new karmic influx into the soul.
  • Meaning: The control or restraint of sensory activities, passions, and volitional actions. It's essentially about cultivating a disciplined and mindful life.
  • Jain Classification: Includes Dravya Samvara (material aspect of restraining karmic particles) and Bhava Samvara (psychological aspect of restraining passions). It is further categorized by five controlling factors (Samvara organs), eight types of restraint (indriya samyama), and various disciplinary practices.
  • Buddhist Perspective: Samvara is understood as the control of senses and the mind, preventing attachment and the generation of unwholesome mental states.
  • Gita's Perspective: Emphasizes sense control, detachment, and focus on duty without attachment to results, aligning with the concept of Samvara.
• Samvara and Morality: The necessity of ethical discipline and self-control (samvara) for spiritual progress and the attainment of the ultimate goal is highlighted. Nature itself operates under laws, and human morality is seen as a higher form of self-imposed order.
• Nirjara (Fruition and Severing of Karma): The process of shedding existing karmas.
  • Meaning: The exhaustion or removal of accumulated karmic particles from the soul. Samvara stops new influx, while Nirjara eliminates what has already accumulated.
  • Types of Nirjara:
    • Dravya Nirjara: The actual detachment of karmic matter from the soul.
    • Bhava Nirjara: The internal psychological state that leads to the detachment of karmic matter.
    • Sakama Nirjara (with intent): Deliberately undergoing austerities and practices to shed karma prematurely. This is considered more significant for spiritual advancement.
    • Akama Nirjara (without intent): Karma naturally exhausting its fruition over time, without deliberate effort.
  • Jain Sadhana: Emphasizes Sakama Nirjara (through tapas, austerities, knowledge, and meditation) as crucial for spiritual liberation.
  • Buddhist Perspective: While not using the term "Nirjara" explicitly in the same way, Buddhism's emphasis on the cessation of suffering through the extinguishing of desires and attachments, and the attainment of Nirvana, aligns with the concept of karma destruction. The focus is on cultivating pure consciousness.
  • Gita's Perspective: The Gita advocates for the shedding of karma through knowledge (jnana), detachment (vairagya), devotional surrender (bhakti), and performing actions without attachment to their fruits (nishkama karma). Knowledge is seen as the fire that burns away karma.

Conclusion: The book concludes that all three traditions advocate for a path of discipline, detachment, and self-awareness to overcome the cycle of karma and attain liberation. While the terminology and specific practices may differ, the underlying principles of ethical conduct, control of passions, and transcendence of attachment are common threads.