Bhagavati-sutra (Viyaha-pannatti)
by K. C. Lalwani | 1973 | 185,989 words
The English translation of the Bhagavati-sutra which is the fifth Jaina Agama (canonical literature). It is a large encyclopedic work in the form of a dialogue where Mahavira replies to various question. The present form of the Sutra dates to the fifth century A.D. Abhayadeva Suri wrote a vritti (commentary) on the Bhagavati in A.D. 1071. In his J...
Part 2 - Karma, painful and pain-free
Q. 86. Bhante! Do living beings bind karma which is harsh to bear?
A. 86. Yes, Gautama, they do.
Q. 87. Bhante! How do living beings bind karma which is harsh to bear?
A. 87. Gautama! They do so by practising violence, till by acquiring the thorn of wrong faith. In these ways, they bind karma which is harsh to bear.
Q. 88, Bhante! Do infernal beings bind karma which is harsh to bear?
A. 88. Yes, they do, and this holds, till the Vaimānikas.
Q. 89. Bhante! Do living beings bind karma which is free from harshness?
A. 89. Yes, they do.
Q. SO. Bhante! How do they bind karma which is free from harshness?
A. 90. Gautama! They do so by desisting from violence, till accumulation of property, by developing a conscience against anger, till against wrong faith. In these ways, living beings bind karma which is free from harshness.
Q. 91. Bhante! Do infernal beings bind karma which is free from harshness?
A. 91. Gautama! They do not. And this holds, till the Vaimānikas. Human beings stand slightly apart like other (five-organ) living beings.
Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):
Q/A. 86-91. The distinction is between karma which gives bitter experience, as it happened to the followers of Skandaka and karma which gives pleasant experience, as it happened to King Bharata. However, the distinction between sāyā-veyaṇijja and asāyā-veyaṇijja, on the one hand and kakkasa-veyaṇijja and akakkasa-veyaṇijja, on the other, must be deemed to be a very subtle one.