Asrava

This article is about the Jain philosophical term. For the philosophical term in Buddhism, see Asava.

Asrava (āsrava "influx") is one of the tattva or the fundamental reality of the world as per the Jain philosophy. It refers to the influence of body and mind causing the soul to generate karma.

The karmic process in Jainism is based on seven truths or fundamental principles (tattva) of Jainism which explain the human predicament.[1] Out that the seven, the four—influx (āsrava), bondage (bandha), stoppage (saṃvara) and release (nirjarā)—pertain to the karmic process.[1]

Overview

According to the Tattvartha sutra, yoga (activity) i.e. the action of the body, the organ of speech and the mind is the reason for asrava.[2] The āsrava, that is, the influx of karmic occurs when the karmic particles are attracted to the soul on account of vibrations created by activities of mind, speech and body.[3] Tattvārthasūtra, 6:1–2 states:[4] "The activities of body, speech and mind is called yoga. This three-fold action results in āsrava or influx of karma."[5] The karmic inflow on account of yoga driven by passions and emotions cause a long term inflow of karma prolonging the cycle of reincarnations. On the other hand, the karmic inflows on account of actions that are not driven by passions and emotions have only a transient, short-lived karmic effect.[6][7]

Classification

There are two kinds of influx, namely:[8]

  1. that of persons with passions, which extends transmigration, and
  2. that of persons free from passions, which prevents or shortens transmigration

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Soni, Jayandra; E. Craig (Ed.) (1998). "Jain Philosophy". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (London: Routledge). Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  2. ↑ Jain 2011, p. 80.
  3. ↑ Jaini, Padmanabh (1998). The Jaina Path of Purification. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1578-5. p.112
  4. ↑ Kuhn, Hermann (2001). Karma, The Mechanism : Create Your Own Fate. Wunstorf, Germany: Crosswind Publishing. ISBN 3-9806211-4-6. p. 26
  5. ↑ Tatia, Nathmal (1994). Tattvārtha Sūtra: That Which Is of Vācaka Umāsvāti (in Sanskrit and English). Lanham, MD: Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0-7619-8993-5. p.151
  6. ↑ Tatia, Nathmal (1994) p.152
  7. ↑ Kuhn, Hermann (2001). p.33
  8. ↑ Jain 2011, p. 81.

Sources

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