श्रुत पंचमी पर्व पर : वर्तमान काल के सन्दर्भ में श्रुत पंचमी का महत्व

१.      आज से लगभग २००० वर्ष पहले ज्येष्ठ शुक्ल पंचमी के दिन श्रुत पंचमी पर्व की स्थापना हुई जब षटखण्डागम शास्त्र की रचना पूर्ण हुई थी। धवला शास्त्र के अनुसार आचार्य धरसेन ने श्रुत के विच्छेद हो जाने के भय से दो साधुओं को श्रुत का ज्ञान दिया था। वे आचार्य भूतबली और पुष्पदंत थे जिन्होंने ३५००० सूत्र प्रमाण षटखण्डागम की रचना पूर्ण की । इसी शास्त्र के ५ खण्डों की टीका आचार्य वीरसेन ने ई० ८१६ में पूरी की जो ७२००० गाथा प्रमाण है और आज १६ पुस्तकों में उपलब्ध है ।

२.      इसी ग्रन्थ और जयधवला ग्रंथ के पठन को सरल करने के लिये आचार्य नेमीचंद्र ने चामुण्डराय के कहने पर गोम्मटसार की रचना वि०सं० १०४० में की ।

३.      गोम्मटसार की कर्नाटक लिपी में टीका केशववर्णीजी ने ई०१३५९ में लिखी। पंडित टोडरमलजी ने कन्नड़ भाषा सीखकर इसकी ढूँढारी भाषा में टीका बनाई जिसका नाम सम्यकज्ञान चंद्रिका है जिसकी रचना वि०स० १८२० में हुई ।

४.      पंडित टोडरमलजी को धवला शास्त्र पढ़ने नहीं मिला, उन्हें सिर्फ़ गोम्मटसार ही प्राप्त हुआ था। उन्होंने धवला की प्रति प्राप्त करने के लिये अपने आदमियों का दल मूलबिद्री भेजा था जिन्हें ग्रन्थ के दर्शन तो हुए पर प्राप्ति नहीं हुई। एक आदमी की इस यात्रा में मृत्यु भी हो गई । किंतु यदि उन्होने सम्यकज्ञान चंद्रिका ना लिखी होती तो शायद आज लोगों को धवला शास्त्र का अर्थ भी समझ नहीं आता।

५.      धवला ग्रथों की सुरक्षा मूलबिद्री के मंदिर में की गयी थी जो ताड़ पत्रों पर लिखी हुई थी, परंतु उसको पढ़ने का चलन नहीं था। न कोई समझने वाला ही बचा था। केवल दर्शन और पूजा होती थी। वैसे यह भी सत्य है कि इतनी श्रध्दा के साथ रखने से ही यह ग्रंथ सुरक्षित रह सके।

६.      हमारे सौभाग्य से अनेक आचार्यों और विद्वानों के प्रयास से लगभग ई०१९४० में इन ग्रंथों  को पुस्तकाकार किया गया। इसके बाद से धवला जयधवला आदि ग्रंथ जनसाधारण के लिये उपलब्ध हुए। जो शास्त्र केवल नाम से ही जाने जाते थे और पूजे जाते थे, आज हम उनको न केवल पढ़ ही सकते हैं, अपितु उनको समझ भी सकते हैं। फिर भी यदि हम उनका लाभ ना उठायें तो हम से अधिक दुर्भाग्यशाली और कौन होगा ?

७.      जैन समाज में श्रुत का बहुत बड़ा महत्व है। चार दानों में शास्त्र दान विशिष्ट माना जाता है। शायद इसी कारण से ग्रंथों की सुरक्षा भी हुई क्योंकि पहले मुनियों को ग्रंथ की प्रतिलिपी कराकर शास्त्र दान करते थे जो उसे पढ़कर मंदिरों में सुरक्षित रख देते थे । यही कारण है कि आज हम २००० वर्ष प्राचीन ग्रंथों को देख पा रहे हैं।

८.      दिगम्बर परम्परा के अनुसार श्रुतज्ञान १२ अंग प्रमाण है जिसके १२वें अंग दृष्टिवाद का केवल एक अंश ही आज विद्यमान है । भगवान महावीर के बाद लगभग ५०० वर्ष तक तो श्रुतज्ञान की मुखाग्र रूप से सुरक्षा हुई जो मुनियों की शिष्य परम्परा से प्रचलित रही। बाद में चूँकि धीरे धीरे स्मृति क्षीण पड़ती गई, इन ग्रंथों का लोप होता गया । य़हाँ तक कि आचार्य धरसेन के समय इतना सूक्ष्म ही रह गया था ।

९.      इनके अलावा आचार्य कुंदकुंद, आचार्य गुणधर आदि ने भी स्वतंत्र रूप से ग्रंथों की रचना की जो शिष्य परम्परा से प्राप्त हुए।

१०.  अधिकतर ग्रंथों की रचना मुनियों ने की तथा अनेक पंडितों ने टीकाएँ लिख कर शास्त्र भण्डार को और समृध्द किया।

११.   मूल ग्रन्थों के बाद के ग्रन्थों को पढ़ने पता चलता है कि श्रुत ज्ञान को सुरक्षित रखने की भावना तीव्र होने से शास्त्र और उनकी टीकाएँ बहुत सावधानी पूर्वक लिखी गयी। जिस विषय की जानकारी नहीं थी उसके बारे में अपनी ओर से कुछ नहीं बताया गया। उदाहरण के लिये ६ द्रव्यों में २ द्रव्य हैं धर्मास्तिकाय और अधर्मास्तिकाय जिनके बारे में अधिक जानकारी नहीं है। धर्मास्तिकाय गति में सहायक होता है जैसे मछली को पानी और अधर्मास्तिकाय स्थिति को सहायक होता है जैसे पथिक को वृक्ष की छाँह। सभी ग्रंथों में इनको इसी तरह समझाया गया, यहाँ तक कि उदाहरण भी वही का वही दिया गया है ।

१२.  यही बात धवला ग्रंथों में भी देखी जाती है जहाँ आचार्य वीरसेन एक ही विषय पर दो विरुद्ध मत प्रस्तुत करते हुए कहते हैं कि चूँकि हममें केवल ज्ञान नहीं है इसीलिये हम निर्णय नहीं कर सकते कि कौन सा मत सही है इसीलिये हमको दोनों मतों का संग्रह करना चाहिये।

१३.  इन बातों से श्रुतज्ञान के बिना कुछ भी विक्षिप्त हुए हमको प्राप्त होने की बात दृढ़ होती है। जबकि अन्य मतों में देखा जा सकता है कि समयानुसार शास्त्रों में परिवर्तन किये जाते रहे हैं, जहाँ धर्म का स्वरूप सामाजिक और राजनीतिक जरूरतों के अनुसार बदलता रहता है। जबकि जैन धर्म में जरूरतों के अनुसार बदलने के बजाए दृढ़ता पूर्वक उसी धर्म के पालन पर जोर दिया जो शास्त्र में पहले से लिखा गया है।

१४.  जैन धर्म में यह माना गया है कि भले ही पंचम काल में नियमों का पालन संभव ना हो पर उनके लिये धर्म के स्वरूप में कोई परिवर्तन नहीं हो सकता क्योंकि धर्म तो वस्तु का स्वरूप है जो हमेशा एक सा रहेगा जैसे मोक्ष का स्वरूप नहीं बदल सकता । जो हिंसा चौथे काल में मानी गयी वही पंचम काल में भी हिंसा मानी जायेगी। इसी तरह जो चौथे काल में परिग्रह कहा गया वही इस काल में भी परिग्रह होगा।

१५.  इस कारण से ही श्रुतज्ञान का महत्व बढ़ जाता है क्योंकि कुछ शिथिलाचारी लोग काल का प्रभाव कह कर शिथलीकरण को धर्म कह कर मनवाना चाहते हैं तो ऐसे समय में शास्त्र ही हमारी शरण होते हैं क्योंकि उसी से सही मार्ग की जानकारी प्राप्त होती है ।

१६.  इस प्रकार कुमार्ग से बचने के लिये जनसाधारण को आवश्यक है कि श्रुतज्ञान का भली भाँति अभ्यास करे ताकि स्वयं को किसी प्रकार का धोखा न हो ।क्योंकि गलतियों का फ़ल स्वयं अपने ही परिणामों की दुर्दशा है, अन्य की गति तो वह जाने। सही मार्ग पर चलकर हमें अपने परिणाम शुध्द करने हैं ।

१७.  हमारे सौभाग्य से श्रुतज्ञान का एक अंश मात्र ही शेष रहने पर भी, बहुत गम्भीर , संपूर्ण और विस्तृत रूप से शास्त्र उपलब्ध हैं जो हमारी प्रत्येक समस्या का उत्तर प्रदान करते हैं। इस लिये शास्त्र वाँचन करके हमें स्वयं अपना मार्ग निर्धारित करना चाहिये।

१८.  शास्त्रों में स्वयं ३६३ प्रकार के विरोधी मतों की चर्चा आती है इसलिये कोई आश्चर्य नहीं कि विभिन्न प्रकार के मत आज के समय में भी चलते हैं। क्या भगवान महावीर के समय में दूसरे मत नहीं थे ?

१९.  अंत में नियमसार की गाथा १५६ में कहे आचार्य कुंदकुंद के कथन के उध्दरण से बात समाप्त करते हैं | 
“ "नाना प्रकार के जीव हैं, नाना प्रकार के कर्म हैं, नाना प्रकार की लब्धि हैं, इसलिये स्व समयों और पर समयों के साथ वाद विवाद वर्जने योग्य है।“

भावार्थ: जगत में जीव उनके कर्म, उनकी लब्धियाँ अनेक प्रकार की हैं। इसलिये सर्व जीव समान विचारों के होना असम्भव है। इसलिये परजीवों को समझादेने की आकुलता करना योग्य नहीं है। स्वात्मावलंबनरूप निज हित में प्रमाद न हो इस प्रकार रहना ही कर्तव्य है। 

Common Misconception

This is something which we have been brought up with since it has been inculcated within us. Do good and you will be benefited and if you are bad then you will be punished. I also used to believe that religions do not teach anything more, hence religion is nothing more than common sense. Just be good. Most of the religions do teach the same. The term karma is used to keep account of your good and bad deeds by which one has to pay for his past misdeeds.

Quite well known preachers make this as their main theme of discourse. Compile shubha karma and avoid ashubha karma. You will be rewarded with heaven for shubha karmas while you will be punished in hell for ashubha karmas. Further if you compile adequate shubha karmas then you get Samyak darshan and thus you get Moksha. This is the simplest way in which one describes path to Moksha.

Our trouble is that we do not wish to apply our mind when it comes to the subject of religion. It is considered a very distasteful subject and treated as a responsibility to be fulfilled and be done with. For some others it is a subject of demonstration of ones religiousness. There he takes extensive parts in various religious functions with the sole objective of earning name and fame. He also believes that by taking such active part he is accumulating shubha karmas in huge way.

We have seen that when someone suffers bereavement of one’s loved ones , or a major loss due to business or accident then  others console him by telling “ what could you have done. The karmas were like this only. One cannot neutralize the dictates of the karmas.” It means we accept that whenever there is a loss , it is due to  the fruition of karmas. Do we also say the same when there is a profit ? No ! the people like to take credit for it themselves; of their hard work, business acumen and so on . Nobody says that the fruition of karmas have given rise to such profits.

But what is the truth ?

Truth is something which we do not wish to hear . We want to believe in certain things in life and carry on with them without bothering about the correctness of the matter.

Truth is that karmas are responsible for each and every momentary action taking place in our life. Corresponding to each event taking place there is fruition of a specific karma tied up with it. If something favorable is happening , there is fruition of shubha karma while if it is unfavorable then the ashubha karma is giving its fruits. Every moment with the fruition of those karmas, depending upon how we react to them we are also binding karmas of similar nature for future. Therefore it is a cycle in which we are sustaining from the beginingless time.

In fact the terms shubha and ashubha karmas just grossly represent the fruition of karmas. There are eight types of karmas which divide into 148 types which  control every momentary event in our life. Be it the knowledge, vision , body , senses etc , they are controlled by karmas. To some it may come as a surprise to know that even the thoughts of anger, greed, deceit, pride are generated out of karmas. Every single desire is controlled by karmas  which have specific intensity , duration thereby having infinite variations in the nature of fruitions. In a sense we are acting like robots. Karmas order and we follow them.

Then how there is difference between people to people ?

There is another karma by name Mithyatva which is responsible for wrong belief and a variety of passions ranging from anger to greed to grief and desires. This too is going through fruition every moment  by which we wrongly believe in body as self, passions as our own , other souls as our family members and so on. The intensity also keeps varying depending upon what had been acquired earlier. These acquisitions are in the form of physical particles of karmas which are bound with the soul of Jiva. These are known as dravya karma. After their designated life period , they fructify which results in manifestation of such desires, passions and beliefs in the soul. These are known as Bhava Karma. In this manner the fruition of dravya karma leads to bhava karma. Now based on the reaction of jiva new karmas are attached for future. Thus bhava karma leads to binding of new dravya karma. Thus the cycle continues indefinitely. The range of intensities , durations etc are extremely large thus resulting in different people having different destinies.

Can the shubha karma can lead to destruction of karmas ?

This is the question which is paramount in the mind of beginers since they have been taught all along on these lines. Several known and famous gurus have also preached on this line. Actually the answer is given in our scriptures at every step but trouble is even the learned people choose to ignore it since they have been brought up in a certain kind of belief. One example is quoted here from Pravachansar gatha 72:

“With the punya of shubha upayoga one acquires heavens and their riches while with pap of ashubha upayoga one lands in hell and its sufferings. In reality both the jivas are unhappy and suffering and both results are same due to the lack of natural happiness of the soul which is achieved with shuddhopayoga.”

In this gatha both the shubha and ashubha karmas are equated to be equal although momentary results appear different. This is so because these acts are not of the nature of soul and are dubbed ashuddha upayoga ( impure manifestation). The true happiness is achieved with shuddha upayoga only when one contemplates on the self.

Even then our preachers keep telling to acquire shubha karmas. It is like telling to dig a hole to fill a hole.

Why shubha karma  do not lead to Moksha ?

The reasons are clearly given in shatkhandagam  Dhavla  wherein process of attaining right belief is described. Without attaining samyak darshan or right belief the process of Samvar and Nirjara does not start i.e without right belief one cannot prevent accrual of karmic bondage of shubha or ashubha karmas.  In fact if this were not true then Jainism and other religions would not be different either. Because every religion preaches to do good hence all should acquire Moksha . The difference lies with other religions in terms of belief that too of the right kind. Only when one realizes the nature of self then he is able to stop influx of karmas and shed them before fruition bythe processes which are known as Samvar and Nirjara. Without these one cannot surmount the oceans of karmas. Shubha karmas along with Mithyatva just add to karmas without any hope of Nirjara. Accumlulation of karmas does not lead to their destruction ,  So how could one destroy the karmas with shubha karma alone ? It would only lead to fruition with pleasures and riches which are still part of worldly cycle.

It can also be looked at from another angle. Suppose one indulges in shubha karmas along with Mithyatva. Hence he acquires Deva gati and riches belonging to the heavenly birth. Now what does he do ? Enjoys the riches ? Indulges in the pleasures ? Then what does he acquire ? So many times our preachers dangle the carrot of heaven when cajoling one to do shubha karmas. But what do they lead to ? The life in heaven too is limited and karmas are acquired there also. More likely ashubha karmas after indulging in  such sensual pleasures. So from heaven the next birth can be Tiryanch ( animal) or human. Do you know that one can take birth as one sensed ekendriya jiva directly from heaven. Even from hell , people do not take birth in such lowly form but it happens from heaven. Why ? So where does it lead to ?

It proves that human birth that we got is the best opportunity  for us to utilize to attain right belief and destroy the Mithyatva which we have been carrying from endless births. Once we have done so, the process of Moksha starts and truly our worries are over. It is absolutely wrong to believe that shubha karmas could lead one to Moksha. If this is true then other religions should also attain Moksha. After all they are no less when it comes to charity and donation. In Jainism alone the nature of self is truly described which makes it unique and different. In fact even the form of  Moksha is described correctly and adequately which others are not even aware of. Hence realizing the nature of self is the real and only objective.

Some people believe that just because we are born in Jain family, they are samyak drishti , thus right belief comes by birth. Some think that knowing the names of 9 tatvas and 6 dravyas entitles them to designation of samyak drishti. These are common misconceptions. Yes we are fortunate to have been born in Jain family or had the opportunity of knowing our scripture , which is something to be cherished. But Jainism is science of the soul which deals with actual beliefs and our bhavas. It does not care for who we may be pretending to be. Deep inside the soul what do we believe in is what matters. It is like saying that you can fool all others but you can’t fool yourself.

How can one acquire Samyak Darshan ?

Truly one cannot do anything to acquire it. After all you cannot do any karma which results in fruition of right belief. However when one acquires samyak darshan , it is said that he had very low passions and sincere desire to understand Jainism, and his efforts and purushartha has resulted in attaining experience of the self. The guidance of Guru also acts as nimitta, as well as recollection of previous births. These are all the ways  that the event is described but in reality his time had come to make the effort and realise himself. Then all the essentials for the event were present.

It is better to believe that our time has also come and go on making the effort. After all this is the best we can do. 

Should we not do shubha karmas ?

Acharya Amritchandra has answered it nicely in Samaysar. He says, here I am preaching you to go higher and higher to acquire moksha and there you are enquiring to go lower ?

The answer is what would you do if you do not do shubha karma ? Ashubha karmas ? Is it any better?

Basically no one is preventing you to do shubha karma but first realise the nature of self and shed the Mithyatva. Then you will anyway realise that you are not the doer of the act. The act occurs on its own at that time and you are not responsible for it. Hence we drop the ownership of the act which is a Mithyatva only. The shubha karma will occur if it destined to. Our real act is to remain within the self and all other activities are just a waste. The real nature of self is knowing , seeing and enjoying the self by the self. Karmas are perturbations  in its nature hence we should not seek pleasures in them.

It is a question of Bhava only

When it comes to matters of Indian spirituality the English language is quite inadequate to express sufficiently. However hard I look for equivalent words, the choice is limited and really do not convey the subject. One such word is Bhava which means in Hindi as Parinaam. The equivalent words in English are feeling or thoughts or volitions or manifestation which touch only the surface of the meaning which is quite deep. This article presents the importance of bhava  on the path to Moksha.

In Jainism the bhava or the internal reflection is given more importance than the deed. One may be guilty of killing but still would not accrue karmas if the bhava or parinaam were noble. Pravachansar gatha 217 lays it down quite clearly.

“ whether a Jiva is killed or not killed, but for a person who conducts carelessly , he is responsible for the himsa definitely. Because those who practice the rules carefully do not accrue karmas even if responsible for external injury “

If a muni is walking slowly and  carefully , and if a flying insect comes under his feet and dies , the muni is not responsible for his death and do not accrue karmas on account of death of insect. On the other hand if one is carelessly walking, whether somebody dies or not, he accrues karmas. This gatha lays down the summary of entire Jain scripture in briefest which is quite opposite to that practiced in our society at this time.  If someone kills a person , he is guilty of the crime and would be penalized accordingly even if it was not his intent. The reason is that the internal reflections of the person are immaterial and it would be the final result which counts since it is visible.

But Jainism lays down very high emphasis on bhava only, which needs to be purer as one climbs the spiritual ladder. Without the purification of thoughts , one cannot hope to come out of worldly transmigration. Although people believe erroneously that the reading of scripture , doing bhakti, Pooja etc and knowing about 6 dravya and 9 tatvas denote right belief or samyak darshan, they mislead themselves in false belief. Because unless they know the self- the knower, they do not have the right knowledge without which the right belief cannot exist. For this to happen the role of bhava is quite important. He may be indulging in activities of charity , penance, etc but internally his thoughts are laden with kashay ( passions of anger, pride, deception and greed) of the anantanubandhi kind( Kashaya which binds for infinite period) then there is no way he can expect to know the self.

One normally thinks that just because he is not thinking of any misdeeds , his thoughts are pure. This is where bhava comes into picture. Even though the thoughts are not present in noticeable form there are thoughts present in unnoticeable form which are unknowingly present in his self. They represent his true mental state which may be hidden from the world knowingly. These bhavas or parinaam are present even at higher gunasthana of spiritual levels while noticeable ones may disappear. However at higher levels the passions are extremely low.

The Kashaya or passions are categorized into four types known as anger, pride, deception and greed and they have further four levels in terms of intensity. The strongest is anantanubandhi, followed by apratyakhyanavaraniya, pratyakhyanavaraniya and sanjwalan, the last being the weakest. It is the first one which prevents shedding of Mithyatva ( wrong belief) and acquiring right belief. While one may say that he does not get angry or may not have greed etc, this does not reflect his true parinaam. This is where Jainism really touches the heart of the matter. How you behave or practice does not truly reflect your bhava. Just as an employee does not voice his true feelings to the employer who may be berating him all the time, people tend to hide their true bhava knowingly and unknowingly. Internally one may be desiring to kick the employer but externally he is quite polite and docile. The kashaya represent those parinaam which are not visible. As described above the annantanubandhi is the strongest in intensity which may be present in a person even though he may appear to be very meek or docile. Till such bhavas are subsided , whatever he may practice , he cannot hope to attain right belief.

Can one modify his bhava ?

It is like asking if one can change his destiny or time of death. The bhavas are also controlled by the fruitation of karmas which were bound in earlier births.  Then what can one do? Truly nothing because Jiva by nature is knower only and not a doer. It is said in practice or Vyavahara  sense that the jiva having right belief would not be having anantanubandhi Kashaya. It does not mean that this jiva did something to destroy this Kashaya. His bhava were such that this Kashaya was low. The time was ripe for him to attain right belief. This phenomenon is also known as krambaddha paryaya or the law of sequential manifestation. Each of the parayaya of every jiva functions sequentially in preordained manner and one cannot modify or change it. If we realise it and believe it then the battle is won. Because then we have accepted that the nature of the Jiva is knowing only and not doing or changing things.

The important thing is for us to realise that the kashayas are not of the nature of the soul and are generated out of the fruitation of past karmas in an endless cycle. Once we give up the ownership and attachment to these bhavas , they subside themselves. People talk about controlling anger by different means, but that implies accepting ownership for it and once we do that, we may hide it in background but the wrong belief is persistent. Whereas for the one who gives up its ownership , he becomes observer of it. Although he may still indulge in anger but that would be of the Apratyakhyanavaraniya type which is of lower level which does not harm the right belief.

Coming back to the question of how to control the bhavas if they are due to fruitation of past karmas, it purely depends on our acceptance of the nature of the soul and understanding its qualities. It indirectly implies the detachment from the world, fear of transmigration and desire for everlasting peace. If a jiva contemplates on these matters then automatically it implies that his Kashaya are not so strong either. On the other hand if he does not even ask such a question means he is  desirous of activities of the world. Thus the actions themselves dictate the result. The one who is sincere would automatically have such bhavas.

Once a jiva is traversing on the Moksha Marg then bhavas would also include the nine forms of No Kashaya also which are three genders,hasya, Rati, arati, shoka, bhaya, jugupsa. Which imply three types of desires of the sex, laughter, love, hate, sorrow, fear, disgust.  These nine are also forms of manifestation which are not of the nature of soul which is ideally detached or Veetraga only. It may appear surprising that even laughter is a Kashaya form. But on careful thinking one can realise that laughter occurs at the expense of someone else hence it is a form of himsa only. These Kashaya become prominent on the spiritual ladder as one traverses higher from fourth gunasthana onwards. Ultimately they are destroyed by ninth gunasthana.

Why these kashayas harm the jiva ? The reason is that each of these cause perturbation of the soul and directs him away from the soul towards some external entity which prevents him from remaining steady within himself. The ultimate goal of Moksha is to remain within one’s own self steadily which provides the true form of bliss. Each of these bhavas prevent him from this goal forcing him to indulge in extraneous world.

All we need to do is to realise the nature of self then automatically the attraction towards the bhavas would wither away. Thus the bhavas are not controlled but it happens because the jiva is within his own nature.

For those who think that if karmas control the bhavas hence they are not in our control , so what can we do , they need to think in the following manner. True, we do not know if our karmas have subsided to a point suitable for attaining samyak darshan but why do we not think other way? Maybe the time is ripe for us to attain samyak darshan and accordingly the bhavas have subsided. Hence there is nothing preventing us to make an effort. In any case , if we do not make the effort then what else can we do ? Possibly indulge in sin only. Hence even in that case it is better to indulge in good deeds than otherwise.

Bhavas are quite deeper than the commonly used words represent since it represents manifestation for single samay which is the unit of time. On the other hand words like feeling , thoughts represents activities over several seconds hence are coarser in representation. It can be seen in the case of Muni belonging to 6^th Gunasthana that he climbs to 7^th gunasthana thousands of times and returns back within a short period of antarmuhurta which amounts to less than 48 minutes. How does this happen ? This happens because his bhavas keep changing so fast. The purity of shuddha bhavas takes him up but he is not able to sustain that purity for long and he is brought down by shubha bhavas. Although a muni may be walking or eating , his bhavas keep changing like this. This continuous purity of bhavas only keep him in that gunasthana otherwise he would come down the spiritual ladder.

The shubha or ashubha bhavas are always directed towards external objects whereas the shuddha or pure bhavas are towards inner self. The entire effort in Moksha marg involves purification of these bhavas in a continuous process on the spiritual ladder. As the bhavas are purer the steadiness in self contemplation increases and the karmas keep shedding accordingly.

Thus in short we see that the entire exercise of Moksha Marg is directed towards the purification of bhavas . In the lower spiritual levels they are shubha or ashubha but the process begins with experiencing the self which represents the shuddha bhavas. Once that starts the sravaka keeps making effort to experience self more and more often thereby purifying the bhavas. This alone is the path to Moksha.