Acharya Mahaprajna
Remissness means forgetfulness. The soul or consciousness is quite forgotten. In this state, a man's mind is attracted by sense-objects. Anger, pride, deceit and greed, once quietened, revive. All awareness is gone and the distinction between what is worth doing and what is not, grows dim.
Another meaning of remissness is - lack of vigour. In the state of remissness, a man grows indifferent to self-control, forgiveness, etc. One also grows lax in truthful behaviour. This gives rise to a state of spiritual sloth. One displays far greater interest in lustful talk and food, etc. than in spiritual development.
Attachment and aversion - these are the two principal flaws. Attachment breeds deceit and greed, and aversion gives birth to anger and pride. All these four - anger, pride, deceit and greet - colour the mind, that is why they are called 'kashaya' (passions), perversity, non-abstinence, remissness - these are consummated only with the rising of the passions. In the time of most intense passion, a man cannot practise even partial abstinence, in the time of intense passion, complete abstinence is not possible. In the presence of mild passion, one cannot attain to veetaragata. On the basis of the intensity or mildness of the passions, sixteen kinds are enumerated:
| intensest anger | as a line carved on stone, most inflexible |
| Intenser anger | as a line drawn on clay, more inflexible |
| intense anger | as a line drawn on send, inflexible |
| Mild anger | as a line drawn on water, flexible momentary |
| Intensest pride | lice a pillar of stone, most resolute |
| intenser pride | like a pillar of bone, more resolute |
| intense pride | like a pillar of wood, resolute |
| MBd pride | like a pillar of vine, flexible |
| Intensest deceit | like the roots of bamboo, most crooked |
| Intenser deceit | like the horn of a ram, more crooked |
| intense deceit | like the flow of urine of a walking bull, crooked |
| Mid deceit | like the peeled bark of a bamboo, less crooked |
| Intensest greed | like the silk-worm, fastest colour |
| Intenser greed | like the slime, faster colour |
| Intense greed | like the wagtail, fast colour |
| Mid greed | like turmeric, immediately fading colour |
There are four passions-anger, pride, deceit and greed.
The intensest passions are known as 'causing endless transmigration';
intenser passions as 'non-renunciatory';
intense passions as 'renunciatory' and
mid passions as 'inflammatory'.
The elements which excite these passions are called the 'lesser passions'.
These are nine - jesting; liking for non-restraining; disliking for restraining; fear, sorrow, feminine sex passions; masculine sex passions; dual sex passions.
Perversity, non-abstinence, remissness - after the ending of these influxes, the karmic particles continue to pour in through the influx of passions. After the ending of passions, the bondage of merit continues through activity.
