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the passions and actions involved. The more deeply the per son involved, the more attachment the person has, the stronger is the binding power of karma. Similarly, depending on the strength of the action, there is either mild or strong experience of the effect of karma. This aspect of karma is referred to as the intensity of karma.
The material conception of karma naturally entails the quantity of karma affecting the jiva at a given time. Since the karma particles are believed to infect the soul, it is held by the Jaina philosophers that the soul attracts the karma particles just lying outside it. The attraction depends on the activity of the self. The more intensive the activity of the self, the more is the quantity of karma attracted by it. Conversely, the less the intensity of the activity of the self, the less is the quantity of the karmic particles attracted by the soul. It is from this point of view that it is said that renunciation of activity helps the self to get release or mokṣa. Since, however, it is held that there is bondage only because of 'passions', it is pointed out that if actions are performed without passions they do not bind the individual. The third aspect of the karma theory we have just now considered is the quantitative aspect.
The fourth aspect refers to the nature of karma as constituting eight types and encompassing one hundred and fifty eight subspecies. The eight main types are: Comprehension-obscuring (jñānāvaraṇa), apprehension-obscuring (darśanavarana), feeling-producing (vedaniya), deluding (mohaniya), age-determining (ayus), personality-making (nama), status-determining (gotra) and powerobscuring (antarāya). Of these, the first four are the obstructive (ghatin) and the rest are the non-obstructive (aghatin) type. We shall now indicate the various sub-species of the different types of karma.
JAINISM
Jñānāvaraṇa: Since knowledge is of five types, we have, corresponding to them five types of knowledge-obscuring karmas according as they obscure mati, śruta, avadhi, manaḥparyaya or kevalajñāna.2
Darśanavaraṇa: This is of nine kinds. The first four correspond to the four types of darśana and the rest, to the five kinds of sleep.3
2 Ibid., I. 4-9
3 Ibid., I. 10-12
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| SR No. | 007012 |
| Book Title | Outlines of Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | S Gopalan |
| Publisher | Wiley Eastern Private Limited New Delhi |
| Publication Year | 1973 |
| Total Pages | 216 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 9 MB |