Part 3.4 - Nine Elements (4): Bandha (Bondage of karma)

[Full title: Doctrines of Jainism (4): The Nine Elements (nava-tattvas) (4): Bandha (Bondage of karma)]

Asrava is the cause, which leads to the influx of good and evil karmas and which leads to the bandha (bondage) of the soul. The soul assimilates the lifeless particles (pudgalas) suitable for karma by indulging in defilement and that constitutes the bondage. The karmas have effect only when they are bound to the consciousness. This binding of the karma to the consciousness is called bandha. However, the yoga or the activities alone do not produce bondage. Out of the many causes of bondage, passion is considered as the main cause of bondage. The karmas are literally bound on account of the stickiness of the soul due to existence of various passions or mental dispositions.

There are five primary causes of karmic bondage as said earlier. Wrong belief, attachment, negligence, passions and activities are the causes of bondage.^[1]

Asrava and bandha both occur on account of ignorance of the soul about its true nature. And the cause of ignorance of soul could be its delusion. One believes that body, relatives, wealth and everything belong to him. This wrong perception is known as mithyatva. Due to this the soul views any given situation as the cause of its own happiness or unhappiness. If the situation is pleasing to the senses, the soul identifies itself with that feeling and craves for continuance of such situation, and if not pleasing, tries to avoid it with sense of aversion. This craving and aversion defiles the true nature of soul of staying in equanimity. These defilements are expressed in the form of four kasayas namely krodha (anger), mana (ego and arrogance), maya (deception) and lobha (greed and attachment). These four passions drag the soul downwards.

Owing to this, the self attracts subtle matter pervading the same space points occupied by the self, capable of turning into karmic matter, which is called influx. When such karmic matter is combined by interpenetration with the space points of the self, it is called bondage.^[2]

Depending upon four aspects of it, i.e. type, duration, intensity and plenitude of bondage of karma, there are eight main types of bandhas^[3] with 97 categories. They are knowledge-obscuring, perception-obscuring, feeling-producing, deluding, life-determining, name-determining (physique making) status-determining and obstructive karmas as mentioned below:

i. Jnanavaraniya (knowledge-obscuring): Concealing, obstcuring knowledge and knowing capabilities of soul is knowledge obscuring karma and it has five categories. Bonding of such karma is Jnanavaraniya karma-bandha.

ii. Darsanavaraniya (perception-obscuring): Perception obscuring karma is darsanavaraniya type. It is further divided into visual, non-visual, clairvoyant, kaivalyaprapti and other nine types depending on type and level of perception.

iii. Vedaniya (feeling-producing): Vedaniya karma is of two types, satavedaniya, that provides favourable and comfortable situation and asatavedaniya are those which provides us uncomfortable situation.

iv. Mohaniya (deluding): Moha means delusion. It is delusion deluding karma. It dulls faculty of discrimination. It can be of various types like darsanamohaniya (three types of perception deluding karma), charitramohaniya (character deluding are of 25 types) karma. Thus there are twenty eight varieties.

v. Ayushya (life-determining): This is life span determining karma and also decides type of life called as Yoni, i.e. infernal, animal, human or divine yoni. These are four types; any one would get bound to the soul.

vi. Namakarma (name-determining): It determines outward appearance and inner conditioning also called as physique-making bondage. The topmost one is Tirthankara Namkarma. Here, we have 42 varities.

vii. Gotra (status-determining): This karma determines status of family i.e. noble, prosperous, low or highly literate where one is going to take birth. Two types of gotrakarma are mentioned in the scripture.

viii. Antaraya karma (obstructive): This karma raises obstacles in doing something. It creates obstacles in all wholesome activities like dana, labh, bhoga, upabhoga and viryantaraya. For the five types of senses also, we have five types of antarayas.

Jnanavaraniya, darsanavaraniya, mohaniya and antaraya are ghatiya (defiling) karma as they hinder the manifestation of the soul’s natural attributes, whereas other four vedaniya, nama, gotra and ayusya karma are aghatiya karma as they do not adversely affect the nature of the soul. The soul has simply to bear the consequences. The further details of bonding of and effects of karma are already given in the beginning of this chapter as a separate topic called “The doctrine of karma”.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

mithyādarśanāviratipramādakaṣāyayogā bandhahetavaḥ | Tattvartha-sutra 8.1

[2]:

sakaṣāyatvājjīvaḥ karmaṇoyogyān pudganānādatte sa bandhaḥ | Tattvartha-sutra 8.2

[3]:

ādyo jñāna darśanāvaraṇavedanīya mohanīyāyurnāmagotrāntarāyāḥ | Tattvartha-sutra 8.4