As a result of the
foregoing discussion, it may be stated that
Asrava
always signifies the influx of matter into the substance of the soul, and
that the soul remains subject to it so long as the rhythm of life remains
slackened by the attitude of receptivity,. This is due to the influence of
desires for material thing, for the soul is perfection itself in its
natural purity, but the entertainment of desires leads it to depend on the
objects thereof, throwing it into an attitude of expectancy and
uneasiness. Pure intelligence by nature, the
Jiva
is affected by its beliefs, so that the expectation of joy, comfort or
help from outside itself instantly impairs its natural buoyancy and
strength. It is this condition of expectancy, which may be called
receptivity or negativity. This harmful attitude, as stated before, is
forced on the soul in consequence of its desires for intercourse with, and
traffic in, matter from which it expects to derive pleasure, or joy, in
some form or other. In reality, however, the soul is perfect and blissful
by nature, so that its desires for the enjoyment of matter only betray its
ignorance of its own true natural perfection. Thus, any kind of activity,
physical, mental or moral, is a cause of
Asrava,
no exception being made even in the case of actions performed carelessly,
since they point to the presence of an attitude of carelessness which is
quite incompatible with self-consciousness.
The causes of
Asrava
may now be enumerated categorically. They are:--
(1)
Mithyatv,
i.e., wrong belief or faith
(2)
Avirati,
i.e. moral failings,
(3)
Pramad,
i.e., negligent conduct, or lack of control,
(4)
Kashaya,
or passions, and
(5)
Yoga,
or the general channels of inflow.
Of these, the first class
consists of five kinds of
mithyatv,
namely,
(i) One-sided absolutism,
which insists on the absolute accuracy of knowledge obtained from one
point of view alone;
(ii) Untrue attribution of
a quality to a being or thing;
(iii) Entertainment of
doubt about the truth;
(iv) Failure to
distinguish between right and wrong; and
(v) The notion that all
religions are equally true.
The second division
includes:
(i)
Hinsa,
that is, injuring another by thought, word or deed,
(ii) Falsehood or perjury,
(iii) Theft,
(iv) No chastity, and
(v) Attachment to things
of the world.
The third category
comprises:
(i) Reprehensible
discourse about the king, state, women and food,
(ii) Sense-gratification,
(iii) Mild kind of
passions,
(iv) Sleep, and
(v) Gossip.
The kasha's include four
different types of anger, pride, deceitfulness and greed, and nine minor
blemishes (no-
kasayas),
namely, joking, attachment or live, aversion or hatred, grief, fear,
disgust and the three kinds of sexual passion peculiar to the three sexes,
the male, the female and the neuter. The four types of
kasayas
are:
(1)
Anantanubandhi,
i.e., that which prevents one's acquiring the right faith and stand in the
way of true discernment;
(2) Apratyakhyana, or that
which prevents the observance of even the minor vows of a house-holder;
(3)
Pratyakhyana,
which interferes with the observance of the
vrata
(vows) enjoined on a monk; and
(4)
Sanjvalana,
which is of a mild nature, and the last obstacle to the absolute purity of
Right Conduct.
Yoga,
which means a channel for the inflow of matter, is of three kinds--
(i)
Manoyoga,
that is, mental activity, or thought,
(ii)
Kayayoga,
or bodily actions, and
(iii)
Vachanayoga,
i.e., speech.
These are the main causes
of Asrava,
and, although the
subheads in this
classification may be divided still further, it would serve no useful
purpose to describe their minute sub-division here.
