Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
ṇatthi du āsavabaṃdho sammādiṭṭhissa āsavaṇiroho.
saṃte puvvaṇibaddhe jāṇadi so te abaṃdhaṃto..3
bhāvo rāgādijudo jῑveṇa kado du baṃdhago hodi.
rāgādivippamukko abaṃdhago jāṇago ṇavari..4
pakke phalammi paḍide jaha ṇa phalam bajjhade puṇo viṃṭe.
jῑvassa kammabhāve paḍide ṇa puṇodayamuvedi..5
puḍhavipiṃḍasamāṇā puvvaṇibaddhā du paccayā tassa.
kammasarireṇa du te baddhā savve vi ṇāṇissa..6
(Sammādiṭṭhiṣa āsavābaṃdho ṇatthi) The enlightened soul [whose vision is right] is [relatively] free from the inflow and bondage of karma (du āsavaṇiroho) because the causes and conditions of influx are blocked (te abamdhaṃto so saṃte puvvaṇibaddhe jāṇadi) with the blockage of [new] influx it is merely aware of the past bondage of karma.
(Jῑveṇa kado rāgādῑjudo bhāvo du baṃdhago hodi) Psychic states which are vitiated by attachment and the like are conditions for bondage of new karma (rāgādi-vippaṃukko abamdhago) but those who are free from the defilement of attachment etc,, are not liable to bondage; (ṇavari jāṇago) [for them] there is only awareness.
(Jaha pakke phalammi paḍide) Just as the ripened fruit gets detached [from the tree-branch] (phalaṃ puṇo viṃṭe ṇa bajjhade) and such fruit does not become re-attached to the branch, (jῑvvassa kammabhāve paḍide puṇo ṇa udayamuvedi) in the same way the karma which has been separated from the soul cannot again attain the state of rise [fruition].
(Tassa ṇāṇissa puvvaṇibaddhā savve vi paccayā) In the case of the enlightened soul, the old bondage and its causes (du puḍḍhavῑ-piṃdasamāṇā) are nothing more than a clod of earth (du te kamma-śarῑreṇa baddhā) and they are associated with subtle microbody [kārmaṇa-śarῑra] i.e., they are of no significant consequences.
Annotations:
In these verses, distinction is made between the soul infected with perversity (mithyātva), called mithyādṛṣṭi and the purified and enlightened soul, called samyagdṛṣṭi who has annihilated the beginningless defilement.
Earlier we had seen that mithyātva is the root of all evils and the primordial cause of the worldly wanderings. It vitiates the innate ability of the soul to realize and comprehend the truth and forces it to grope in the darkness. In course of time, however, the innate purity of the soul urges it to proceed towards enlightenment and ultimately leads it to the right path. The potency of mithyātva is reduced to an appreciable extent and the right world-view or samyaktva dawns. Thus, samyaktva, which is a purified state of the soul converts mithyādṛṣṭi (wrong vision) into samyagdṛṣṭi (right vision). It is attended by radical change in vision of the world in general and the psycho-physical relationship in particular. The whole horizon changes.
From eternity till now the soul was in a state of spiritual helplessness and slumber. After awakening, self-awareness increases progressively and a more powerful and vigorous spiritual energy mainfests itself suppressing or destroying the potency of the vision deluding karma. As soon as the effects of this deluding karma which, so far deluded the soul and kept it away from right world-view towards truth, or right predilection for truth is removed, the soul realizes its own true nature. This, itself, is enlightenment and the soul attains an unprecedented insight which it had been prevented from attaining from eternity. The soul is now clearly able to distinguish between its own psychic states and the defiling states of the alien karmic matter responsible for the delusion.
At this point of time, out of the four primal conditions of influx, the primordial one—the delusion of vision—has become ineffective. This immediately results in lowering the intensity of the passions and enhancing the ability of the soul to practise abstinence and right conduct. Out of the four categories of passions [according to the potency], the lifelong (anantānubandhῑ) that is the most virulent are no longer effective. However, the soul has to go a long way for the final consummation. It has to nullify all the other conditions of influx and bondage. This has to be done by further increasing its purity and augmenting the spiritual energy for right conduct.
Attainment of enlightenment enables the soul to clearly distinguish between the self and the non-self, and it is able to abandon its eternal infatuation for the alien. We have seen that the bondage of karma is determined by the bhāva karma and the reduced attachment for non-self enables an enlightened soul to block the influx. The karma which has already yielded its fruit cannot do any further harm and the absence of bhāva karma (attachment etc.) results in relative freedom from bondage of new karma for a samyagdṛṣṭi.
(The author explains what exactly is meant by the term samyagdṛṣṭi in a succeeding verse no. 5. This explanation is very important).
