Acharya Umaswati
08.01 Mithyādarshanāviratipramādkashāyyogā Bandhhetavah
Audio: Sanskrit: मिथ्यादर्शनाविरतिप्रमादकषाययोगा बंधहेतवः।
Hindi: मिथ्यादर्शन, अविरति, प्रमाद, कषाय और योग ये 5 बंध के हेतु है।
08.01
English: Wrong perception, absence of restraints, indolence, defilement and undue exercise of īhê faculties are the causes of bondage.
In addition to the four factors mentioned above, this sutra considers indolence also as a factor. It is therefore stated here that Mithyadarshan (wrong perception), Avirati (absence of restraint), Pramād (indolence), Kashāy (defilement) and Yog (undue exercise of the faculties) are the five factors, which are responsible for incurring bondage. Let us consider these factors one by one.
Mithyadarshan: This is the same as Mithyātva, which means wrong perception. That is the primary cause of bondage and needs to be properly understood. It arises from the delusive state of mind that has been prevailing since the infinity. That state is comparable to a dream. While one is dreaming, the dream seems true to him. If he is dreaming of making love, the pleasure becomes evident on his face; if he is dreaming of a scary situation, the fright would be writ large on his body.
When he wakes up, he is free from those pleasant or unpleasant sensations; the world of dream is no longer true for him. Similarly, the worldly soul stays in a dreamy state and believes that the situations that he is living in are true and lasting. One thinks of the body, spouse and other relations, wealth etc. as belonging to him, but they do not stay with him forever. Either he loses them or he has to give them up when he dies. Unfortunately, one fails to treat them dreamlike, so long as he remains ignorant of the truth. The realization of truth amounts to waking up from the dream and that ushers in the dawn of right perception. Thereby he realizes that none of the above-mentioned aspects really belongs to him.
Right perception is therefore defined as faith in truth. The absence of that faith or having a wrong faith constitutes the wrong perception. We have remained ignorant of our true self since the time immemorial and have been identifying ourselves with the physical body and other worldly connections that we get as the result of our Karma. Moreover, we also come across wrong beliefs and happen to subscribe to them. That is termed as adopted wrong perception.
Avirati: By virtue of wrong identification with the worldly aspects, we are inclined to believe that they are the sources of happiness and therefore we remain attached to the same. If we realize that they are ephemeral and we have to leave them, we would try to restrain attachment for them. But our sense of attachment is so strong that we fail to adopt the restraints. That is termed as Avirati.
Pramād: Realization of the ephemeral nature of every worldly aspect may prompt us to give up attachment and to observe restraints. The absence of firm faith, however, does not lend us enough vigor. As such, we fail to exercise the vigor required to overcome attachment for the worldly objects and worldly connections. The failure to exercise the vigor results from indolence, which is termed as Pramād.
Kashāy: We get different situations from time to time as consequence of our Karma. Whether such situations are favorable or unfavorable, they are going to stay with us for the duration of Karma and would disappear in due course. There is therefore nothing to be pleased or displeased about them.
Under the impact of delusion, however, we feel happy with the favorable situations and unhappy with the unfavorable ones. We therefore try to retain the favorable situations and to avert the unfavorable ones. īf the favorable situation disappears, we tend to attribute that loss to some extraneous factors. We get mad and indulge in rage towards those, whom we perceive as responsible for the loss. If the favorable situation stays longer, we may become arrogant about it. We may crave for its continuation and may also resort to deception for that purpose. These anger, arrogance, deception and craving are termed as Kashāys. The worldly soul has been indulging in them due to his ignorance about the true nature of Self.
Yog: The worldly soul has been functioning with mental, verbal and physical faculties. One needs to exercise those faculties for self-realization. By virtue of the ignorance and delusion, however, we tend to operate those faculties for the worldly gains. We use them for availing the objects of senses and for that purpose we remain inclined to exercise them wrongly. That is termed as Yog.
