Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
jaha puriseṇāhāro gahido pariṇamadi so aṇeyavihaṃ.
maṃsavasāruhirādῑ bhāve udaraggisaṃjutto..l6
taha ṇāṇissa du puvvaṃ je baddhā paccayā bahuviyappaṃ.
bajjhaṃte kammaṃ te ṇayaparihῑṇā du te jῑvā..17
(Jaha puriseṇa gahido āhāro) Just as food materials consumed by a person (udaraggi-saṃjutto) and acted upon by digestive juices from the organs of the digestive system, (so maṃsa-vasā-ruhirādi bhāve aṇeyaviham pariṇamadi) are metabolized and converted into flesh, blood, marrow and various other bodily factors.
(Taha) In the same way (ṇaṇissa du puvvaṃ baddhā paccayā) dravya karma bounded earlier [pre-enlightenment] by the enlightened soul (te bahuviyappaṃ kammaṃ bajjhaṃte) become the conditions of bondage of various species of karma (te du jῑva ṇayaparihiṇā) such a soul is degraded and has fallen from the ultimate values.
Annotations:
These are the concluding verses of this (fifth) chapter, on the subject of influx of karmic matter (āśrava). Having emphatically established in the preceding verses that an enlightened person with right vision (samyagdṛṣṭi), who has suppressed or destroyed the beginningless perverted attitude, is free from bondage, the author introduces special conditions of bondage for such a soul. An aspirant climbing the ladder of spiritual purification is also subject to falls and degradations. We have stated that the karma does not yield its fruit as soon as it is bound but remains inactive for some time. It delivers its fruit when it comes to the state of rise (udaya) from the state of non-production (sattā). Thus, an enlightened person might have some karma left in the state of non-production which come to rise after he has been enlightened. When such karma, bound in the pre-enlightenment period, gives its fruit, the soul may be degraded and loses some faith in the ultimate aspects of the soul. In that case, inspite of being a samyagdṛṣṭi, affection and attachment to aliens produce bhāva karma and bhāva āśrava which ultimately result in dravya āśrava and bondage of new karma. The author explains the process by using the analogy of the digestion and metabolism,of foodstuffs. It is well known that the conversion of food into vital tissues of biological importance is a slow process. The food has to pass through various stages of digestive process in various digestive organs and is acted upon by various digestive juices at each stage—in stomach, intestines etc. Ultimately by the lengthy and intricate processes of catabolism and anabolism the proteins of the food stuffs are converted into the proteins of the tissues and become flesh, blood, marrow, bones and other vital tissues of the body. Similarly, the complex processes of karma brings about the fruition and subsequent bondage even after the achievement of enlightenment and right vision.
[The relative non-bondage of karma for the samyagdṛṣṭi should not understood in absolute sense].
(Idi paṃcamo āsavādhiyāro samatto)
[Here ends the fifth chapter on Āśrava (Cause of Influx of Karmic Matter).]
