Karma Philosophy In Jainism

Author(s): Chandrashekharvijay, Chunilal Vrajlal Modi
Publisher: Kamal Prakashan

Page 9

poverty and one dull minded is wallowing in riches. One innocent is hanged on the gallows on a frumped up charge of murder while the real culprit escapes. In a hospital a patient dies of a dose of poison adminstered by a nurse the mistaken belief that it is the real prescribed medicine. A multimillionaire turns a pauper overnight and vice-versa. So many such strange happenings occur which can only be satisfactorily explained by the operation of the law of Karma.
The birth of man in a certain family is not an act of volition but a compulsive act of Karma. Karma determines parents, family, relations, cireumstaness, etc. A child born in a millionaire's family becomes a millionaire from the very birth, whereas a child born in a very poor family starts life as a pauper. The differing cultures in their families make a difference their upbringing. The lineaments, bodily structure, blood and bones, temperament, feelings, thoughts, tastes, desires differ from man to man, and even where two persons are twins. It is difficult to bring all men to the dead level of equality but even if equality in the matter of income and wealth were superimposed, you cannot bring about equality in their tastes, temperaments, thoughts, desires, intellect, education, temperaments of their parents, wives and children etc. So cach man will derive different kinds of happiness or pain according to his differing mental attitudes and states of their overall circumstances and environment arising from Karma The difference is not superimposed but forged by the different kinds of Karmas of different men. Karmas differ from man to man and so long as they differ, inequality in birth, power, status, occupation and in so many other things will continue to rule the lives of men. Only when the soul is freed from the bondage of Karma, there is equality in released souls both in regard to perfect purity and enjoyment of four kinds of virtues in their infinities. One should not, therefore be misled by the tall talks that are current in the world about ushering inequality amongst manind.
In the matter of material resources, man mostly reaps the fruits of past Karmas. If the past karmas are bad, even with