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.