Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
ekkaṃ ca doṇṇi tiṇṇi ya cattāri ya indiyā jῑvā.
bādarapajjattidarā payaḍῑo ṇāmakammassa..21
edāhi ya nivvattā jῑvaṭṭhāṇā du karaṇabhūdāhiṃ.
payaḍῑhiṃ poggalamaihi tāhi kiha bhaṇṇade jῑvo..28
pajjattāpajjattā je suhumā bādarā ya je jῑva.
dehassa jῑvasaṇṇā sutte vavahārado uttā.. 29
mohaṇakammassudayā du vaṇṇidā je ime gunaṭthāṇā.
te kiha havaṃti jῑvā je ṇiccamacedaṇā uttā.. 30
(Ekkaṃ ca doṇṇi tiṇṇi ya cattāri ya paṃciṃdiyā) Possession of one sense, two senses, three, four and five senses (vādarāpajjattidara) to be gross and fully developed or their opposites viz., subtle and partly developed—all these are (different) sub-species of body-making—nāma karma; (Edāhi ya payadῑhiṃ poggalamihi) these sub-species are karmic matter (tāhi du karaṇabhūdāhiṃ jῑvaṭṭhāṇā ṇivatta) and (different) classes of living organisms are their modifications, (jῑvo kiha bhaṇṇade) how can they be called soul?
(Je pajjattāpajjattā je suhumā vādarā) Fully developed or partly developed, subtle or gross etc. (jῑvā) are called classes of living organisms (dehassa jῑvasaṇṇā) on the basis of differences in their bodies; all these (sutte vavahārado uttā) are so mentioned in the scriptures only empirically.
(Je ime guṇaṭṭhāṇā) The aforementioned stages of spiritual purification (mohaṇakammassudayā du vaṇṇidā) are shown to be (different) degrees of fruition of the deluding karma (je niccamacedaṇā uttā) and which are always inanimate being karmic matter; (te kiha havaṃti jῑvā) how can these become conscious (animate) i.e., soul?
Annotations:
In previous verses (50 to 55) the author had enumerated many attributes which were finally stated/declared to be modifications of matter. Of these attributes such as colour, smell and the like (which were patently physical qualities and modes because they could be ascribed to the gross or physical body) were dealt with in the preceding verses (56 to 64). Now in these verses some more complex attributes (which are not so obviously material and cannot be ascribed to the physical body, because they are the results of the interaction of soul with karmic matter) are dealt with. Important among such attributes are jῑvastānas—classifications of living organisms i.e., souls subject to metempsychosis and guṇasthānas—stages of spiritual purification. Former are the results of the fruition of body-building (nāma) karma and āyuṣya karma. Thus ultimately they are modifications of karmic matter. Guṇasthānas are fourteen stages of spiritual advancement on the path of emancipation. These stages are of the nature of purification due to the emergence of obscured qualities of the soul consequent upon the demolition or subsidence of the deluding karma. Thus ultimately both are modifications of karmic matter and not those of the soul.
Classification of Souls: Basically there are two categories of souls:
- Living organisms--those which move from birth to birth are subject to metempsychosis and
- Those who are emancipated. All emancipated souls are exactly identical to one another and are, therefore, not subject to further division. Those subject to metempsychosis are classifiable from various aspects. One of these aspects is jāti i.e., number of senses possessed by the organism. Thus there are--
- One-sensed organisms such as plants,
- Two-sensed organisms such as worms,
- Three-sensed organisms such as ants,
- Four-sensed organisms such as bees and flies, and
- Five-sensed organisms which include animals and humans.
From some other aspects they are classified as subtle or gross, fully developed (paryāpta) [1] or partly developed; males, females, bisexuals or asexuals. Some other aspects are: four types of gati (realms of mundane existence), six types of beings based on the material of their bodies and so on. All these innumerable varieties are determined by the fruition of different sub-species of the body-making (nāma) karma. Since the substantive cause of all these manifestations is karmic matter, how can they be called souls or possessed by souls?
It is true that in the scriptures such classifications, as stated above, are mentioned as classes of jīva. But it should be remembered that they basically refer to the varieties of the bodies and conventionally applied to jīva. And hence the scriptural statements must be taken as made in popular parlance and not ultimate.
And finally, the stages of spiritual progress—guṇasthānas—are no doubt referred to and made applicable to the soul, also in popular parlance. In the ultimate analysis they are also proved to be different degrees of fruition, subsidence or destruction-cum-subsidence of the deluding (mohanīya) karma. Deluding karma is also like body-making karma composed of karmic matter. So again, how can even stages of spiritual development become soul since ultimately they are karmic matter?
(Idi dudiyo jῑvājῑvādhiyāro samatto)
[Here ends the second chapter on Psycho-physical Relations]
Terms paryāpta and its opposite aparyāpta (pajjattā & apajjattā) are derived from the process of bio-potential (paryāpti), that is the building up of physical faculties at the commencement of the new life. There are six bio-potentials, viz., (i) aliment (āhāra), (ii) body (śarῑra), (iii) senses (indriya), (iv) respiration (svāśochvāsa), (v) speech (bhāṣā) and mind (manaḥ). Commencement of all the six bio-potentials are synchronized 'with the fertilization of the ova (which is also the instant of rebirth), but the development of the first i.e. the aliment is' completed in an instant and of the rest gradually. An organism is developed or underdeveloped according as the development of all its relevant bio-potentials have been completed or remain unfinished.
Prāṇa means the bio-energy which is the psychic counterpart of biopotential. Modern scientific concept of life is "an energy capable of organizing matter gathered from outside into the body of a living organism". In modern terms, paryāpti means the power of organization of material from the environment into special pattern(s).
All living things are organized even if, like a virus, they consist of more than protein and nucleic acids. This 'organization' is a highly improbable state for matter to be in. All inanimate matter and dead matter tend to become more disordered and randomly scattered. To a physicist this is known as the tendency to increase entropy, for entropy is simply a measure of disorder. To counter this tendency, energy is required, so living things can only retain their organized state of low entropy—by respiration and production of energy. (Mind Alive, vol. 1, p 22).
