Prof. Dr. Sohan Raj Tater
In Tattvārtha Sūtra (6-7) Acārya Umāswāti states that - The nature and intensity (tīvra-mañda) of desire or through internal or external character of activity (jñāta-ajñāta), dependence of the act involving living and non-living substances (adhikaraṇa) and one's own position and power (vīrya) determine the kind of karma and the amount of karmic flux.
There are 39 different kind of activities that lead to the influx and bonding of karma particles as follow:
- Five senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing)
- Activities involving violence (hiñsā)
- Untruth (asatya)
- Activities involving four passions (anger, pride, deceit and greed)
- Stealing (asteya)
- Unchastity (abrahamacarya)
- Possessiveness (parigraha)
- Mental pain to oneself or others (prāṇipāta kiryā)
- Rational activities (samyaktva)
- Irrational activities (mithyātva)
- Experimentation (prayoga kiryā)
- Infatuated desire to see a pleasant or unpleasant object (darśana kiryā).
Activities of worldly souls have also been classified in the following manner:
There are three phases of each activity:
- Determination (Saṅkalpa) (Saraṁbha)
- Preparation (Samāraṁbha)
- Commencement (Āraṁbha).
Each one of these may involve the activity of mind, speech and body, giving 9 variations. A person can do the act himself/herself, can get it done by others or can just give the approval for the act. Thus we get 9 x 3 = 27 types of activities. These 27 types multiplied by four different passions (kaṣāyas) (anger, pride, deceit and greed) yield 108 different shades of activities.
Thirty Nine Activities
Doctoral Thesis, JVBU