Chapter 3 : Punya Pap Adhikar

28. Samayasar Gatha 145-153

Here commentator says that Karma is of one kind only. However it enters in two forms of punya and pap.

Just as on a stage a single  person enacts two forms in dancing, a wise person knows them rightly as one; in the same way karma is one kind but it enacts in two different forms of punya and pap; the samyakdrishti gyani recognizes them rightly  as one only. In praise of that knowledge this chapter is begun with recitation of following kalash:

Shloka 100: After the completion of karta karma chapter it is now stated that the moon in the form of samyakgyan itself ascends which can be directly experienced.

How is that Samyakgyan ? Although that renowned karma is only one kind in terms of general karma, it has been divided into two kinds by the distinctions of shubha or ashubha. However now Samyakgyan ascends identifying them as one. It implies that  due to ignorance the kerma was seen as of two kinds but now the right knowledge has described them as one only.

And how is that Gyan ? – Which has removed the dust of Moha very efficiently. It infers that the knowledge was obscured due to the dust of Moha and the true knowledge got unobscured with its removal. Just as moon gets obscured due to clouds or mist and its illumination is not seen and with the  removal of that obscuration the real illuminance is visible. Same way it should be understood in case of samyakgyan. 

Now the Punya –pap are described by means of a kalash with following example :

Shloka 101 : Wife of a shudra (lower cast person) gave birth to two sons at the same time. Out of them one was raised in a Brahmin family hence he suffered with the pride that “ I am Brahmin” ; therefore with that pride he discards liquor from a distance and does not touch it at all. The second was raised in the shudra family hence “ I am shudra” with this disposition, he daily takes bath in liquor and treats it as holy.

If we consider from the point of view of reality then both are sons of Shudra mother since both have  been born out of her. However they manifest and conduct  in different ways due to delusion of having different castes. In the same way it should be known about punya-pap karmas that both are manifested out of impure bhavas and hence are of the nature of bondage. Although they may appear differently due to their outlook but the real belief knows them as single karma.  

Now the nature of shubha-ashubha karmas are described as follows:

Gatha 145: The world knows that ashubha karma is unvirtuous, is of the nature of pap and is  bad while shubha karma is virtuous, of the nature of punya and is good. Now the real view says that whether karma be shubha or ashubha, whatever causes the jiva to enter into transmigration, how can that be virtuous? It cannot be.

Commentary : Some people believe that although karma is of one kind, it gets divided into two kinds by distinctions of shubha and ashubha, because-

1. The shubha or ashubha manifestations of Jiva  are different due to certain nimitta (causes) , thus karmas are different because causes are different.

2. Shubha and ashubha karmas are of the nature of pudgala hence the karmas are different since nature is different.

3. The fruition of shubha and ashubha karmas results in different flavors hence karmas are different on account of experience or flavor.

4. Both shubha and ashubha karmas are dependent on path to Moksha or path to bondage respectively hence they are different due to dependence.

Thus by means of these four reasons some karmas are shubha and some are ashubha – some have such belief, but that suffers from opposition i.e. there is a side opposite to it also. The same is described as follows:

1. The manifestation of Jiva in the form of Shubha or Ashubha  is only of one kind being of the nature of ignorance. Since the cause is one only hence karma is of one type only.

2. The manifestation of pudgala in shubha or ashubha form is of one kind only being pudgala by nature. Hence being of the same nature the karmas are also of one kind only.

3. The fruition of shubha or ashubha karmas in terms of flavor is of the nature of pudgala only. Since they  are of the same kind of experience hence  karmas are of one kind only.

4. The shubha or ashubha deeds and the  paths of bondage and Moksha are different altogether. Out of these the one which is based on Jiva is the path to Moksha while the one based on pudgala is the path to bondage. Therefore they are several and not one. Even though the shubha and ashubha paths are not the same , still they are  dependent on pudgala form bondage path, therefore due to dependence being same, the karmas are one only.

Explanation : Here shubha and ashubha karmas are differentiated by four means as follows:

1. The cause for shubha bondage are the shubha manifestations of Jiva. These are worshipping the Arihant with gratitude, charity to other Jivas, low passions resulting in pure bhavas etc. The cause for ashubha are the ashubha manifestations of Jiva namely – intense anger etc., ashubha leshya, cruelty, intense sensual desires, disrespect towards deva, guru and scriptures etc. Thus from the viewpoint of causes shubha and ashubha karmas are of two types.

2. From the aspect of pudgala manifestations also the shubha and ashubha have different natures. The dravya karmas of shubha nature are sata vedaniya, shubha ayu, shubha naam and shubha gotra. The ashubha dravya karmas are four ghatia karmas, asata vedaniya, ashubha ayu, ashubha naam and ashubha gotra.  These on fruition give jiva  desirable-undesirable , good-bad materials. Hence due to difference of pudgala nature, the karmas have different natures.

3. The experience of shubha is pleasant from while ashubha is unpleasant. Hence these two are different from aspect of experiences also.

4. The path to Moksha is shubha while path to bondage is ashubha therefore from aspect of dependence also these two are different.

After describing the differences, these two are described as indifferent as follows:

1. The shubha and ashubha both  are manifestations of Jiva in ignorant form since both are due to ignorance. Hence from the aspect of causes the karmas are same, not different.

2. Shubha and ashubha both are manifestations of pudgala. Since the manifestations of pudgala by nature are of the same kind hence there is no difference between the two.

3. The experiences of shubha-ashubha in fruition resulting in good or bad are also of pudgala nature. Hence from aspect of experiences also both karmas are same.

4. Shubha-ashubha are defined as paths to Moksha or bondage. In reality the path to Moksha is only manifestations of Jiva while path to bondage is only manifestations of the pudgala. Hence the dependence of the two paths are different. Therefore the shubha and ashubha karmas are same since they both support the path to bondage. 

In this way the viewpoint denoting the difference of shubha and ashubha karmas is negated and the aspect of indifference is brought out as prime. From this aspect the karmas are one only and not two.

The same meaning is described in following kalash:

Shloka 102: Cause, nature, experience and dependence- from all four aspects there is no difference in karmas. Since they both support the path to bondage hence it is preferred to treat both as single karma. Definitely the shubha and  ashubha form karmas both are cause for bondage only.

Now shubha and ashubha karmas are proved to be cause for bondage identically as follows:

Gatha 146:    Just as a golden shackle binds a person, the iron shackle also binds the person; in the same way the shubha and ashubha karmas both result in  bondage only  to Jiva.

Commentary : The shubha and ashubha karmas both result in bondage to a person without any difference because from the aspect of bondage there is no difference between the two. Just as golden shackle and iron shackle are not different from aspect of bondage, in the same way the karmas are same from aspect of bondage.

Now shubha and ashubha karmas both are negated as follows:

Gatha 147 : O Munis ! The above described Shubha and ashubha karmas both are non-virtuous of derogatory nature.  Hence do not have attachment or attraction towards both non-virtuous deeds. Further do not interact with them either since interaction or attachment  with non-virtuous gives rise to destruction of our own independence thus causing harm to self by ourselves.

Commentary : Both shubha and ashubha karmas are non-virtuous. Interaction or attachment  towards both of them is refuted since both are cause for bondage. Just as the female elephant which attracts or does not attract the elephant, still interaction or attachment with the non-virtuous causes loss of independence of the elephant.

Now Acharya strengthens the negation of  the two karmas by means of example as follows:

Gatha 148: Just as some person gives up interacting and attachment  with another person knowing him to have vile and disreputable nature.

Gatha 149: In the same way a wise person gives up interaction or attachment towards karmas knowing its nature to be vile and disreputable and engrosses himself in his own nature.

Commentary : Just as a smart elephant in the jungle, gives up interaction or attachment towards a female elephant agent, desirable or not desirable to the senses who is enacting inviting spectacle, knowing her to be vile with harmful intentions and does not venture near her.

In the same way the soul also being wise with detachment , discards the pleasant or unpleasant i.e. shubha or ashubha   karmas which intend to bind on fruition, knowing them to be of vile nature and stops interacting or  being attracted towards them.

Explanation : For capturing an elephant they show him a decoy female elephant. The elephant becoming blind with sensual desires and  due to attraction and passions falls into a trap and gets captured and thus suffers. A smart elephant does not get attracted and avoids falling into trap.

In the same way believing  the karmas to be beneficial the ignorant person is attracted and interacts with them; then with bondage he suffers the pains of transmigration. However a wise person is not attracted  and he does not interact with them.

Now shubha and ashubha karmas are cause for bondage and should be discarded - this is established by means of scripture-

Gatha 150: The Jiva with attachments suffers bondage of karmas while detached Jiva is liberated from karmas- such is the sermon of Jinendra bhagwan. Hence O bhavya Jiva! Do not be attracted or attached to karmas.

Commentary : The person with desires definitely bonds with karmas and the one without desires gets liberated from karmas- such is the sermon in scriptures. Due to the nimitta of desires the shubha and ashubha karmas accrue and they are called cause of bondage in general in scripture hence both karmas are negated here.

Same is described in next kalash:

Shloka 103:  Omniscient has called shubha and ashubha karmas both equally responsible for bondage of karmas; therefore all the karmas have been negated. The cause of Moksha has been called just Gyan alone.

Now it is asked that if all karmas have been negated then how will the Munis practice munihood or rather what will they take recourse to? To placate them the next kalash is stated:

Shloka 104: Indulging in karmas of the nature of shubha conduct or performing  karmas of the nature of ashubha conduct – Discarding karmas of all types  and thus remaining inactive without karmas – such munis are not without support.

Here it should not be doubted that on which support  will the Munihood be practiced ? – The moment they conduct in inactive state then those Munis should  conduct knowledge alone in their knowledge. That alone is the shelter. Those Munis, immersing self in knowledge , enjoy the highest nectar themselves within themselves.

Explanation: After discarding all the karmas the right  recourse is to knowledge only. Immersing in the knowledge, the kind of perturbation free great pleasure experienced can be described by Gyani only. Ignorant passionate Jivas , believing karmas to be everything, indulge in them only, hence they do not know the experience of the pleasurable knowledge.

Now knowledge is established to be the cause of Moksha:

Gatha 151: Definitely the nature of real samaya i.e. substance named Jiva is such that he is pure, kevali, muni, gyani ; such are his names and the munis who immerse themselves in this nature, they attain nirvana.

Commentary : Knowledge alone is the cause of Moksha , because ignorance is of the form of shubha and ashubha karmas, which is cause for bondage. Thus it automatically establishes the cause for Moksha that Moksha can be attained by knowledge only, hence only knowledge is real objective which itself is soul. This is described so because that knowledge alone is different from all karmas and substances being of different nature, and that alone is real soul which is different from the corporeal nature.

The same is called ‘samaya’  because the meaning of ‘samaya’ has been told earlier also. ‘sama’ is prefix which means manifesting together at the same time. The word ‘aya’ means knowledge as well as motion; therefore the one which manifests in the form of two verbs together at same time is ‘samaya’. The same manifestation is the nature of Jiva , that is soul.

That soul is also described as ‘shuddha’(pure) because it is entirely different from all other dharmas (natures) and all aspects of nayas alluding to the owner of dharmas known as dharmi. His extraordinary dharma is gyan which different from  all i.e. different from all other dharmas in the form of illumination – such soul alone is called ‘shuddha’.

That soul alone is called ‘kevali’ because that only has consciousness alone as its property of substance. The meaning of ‘kevali’ is ‘one’.

That soul is also called ‘Muni’ because it is of the nature of engrossment i.e. of the nature of knowledge bhava alone hence that alone is ‘Muni’.

That soul is himself ‘Gyani’ , since it is of the nature of knowledge alone.

Manifestation in the form of knowledge or existing with knowledge is called ‘swabhava’ or nature. Manifestation or existing  in conscious form is also called ‘sadbhava’.

In this manner there are different words hence different names but the substance is the same.

Explanation : The upadan (root) cause of Moksha is soul only. In  reality the nature of soul is knowledge. Knowledge is soul only and soul is knowledge only; hence calling knowledge alone  as the cause of Moksha is justified. 

However, if someone believes that performing the external penances etc. alone  is knowledge then he is described the right procedure of knowledge:

Gatha 152: Those who are not stationary in the real knowledge form soul, but practice penances and fasts, all those penances-fasts have been called by omniscient as penances of ignorance(child) and fasts of ignorance(child).

Commentary : The cause of Moksha is Gyan alone – this is the procedure i.e. the words of omniscient since without the real knowledge i.e. ignorantly performed penances and fasts are both cause for bondage. Therefore omniscient has negated them by calling them penances of  ignorance(child) and fasts of ignorance(child). In this way the previously described knowledge alone is cause for Moksha.

Explanation: Here penances and fasts without knowledge are called penances of child and fasts of child, therefore the path for Moksha is knowledge only.

Now, knowledge is cause for Moksha and ignorance is cause for bondage – this is described as a rule:

Gatha 153 : Those who follow fasting and abstinence, in the same way follow virtues and penances but if they have not realised the real knowledge form soul i.e. if they do not have knowledge-faith in the real nature of soul then do not experience Nirvana  i.e. they do not attain it.

Commentary : Knowledge alone is basis for Moksha, since due to lack of knowledge , the ignorant people do not attain Moksha in spite of practicing internally fasting, abstinence, virtues and penances form shubha karmas. The gist is that practicing shubha karmas like fasting, abstinence, virtues, penances without knowledge do not lead to Moksha.

Further ignorance alone is cause for bondage. Because with lack of ignorance, manifesting in knowledge form the wise ones can attain Moksha without the practices of shubha karma form fasting, abstinence, virutes and penances.

Here it should be understood that fasting etc. is indulgence in shubha karmas. Abstaining from  indulgence is i.e. remaining  in detached form even if fasting, abstinence, virtues and penances form practices are not prevalent, even then Moksha can be attained – such is the rule.  

Same is described with following kalash:

Shloka 105: The knowledge form soul is absolute. When he becomes stationary in his knowledge nature then it is glorious and that alone is basis for Moksha because he himself is of the form of Moksha. As against it, all others are cause for bondage, because they are of the nature of bondage. Therefore self being of the knowledge form itself is experience. In this way from the Nishchaya aspect the bondage and moksha are described.