Karma in Jainism facts for kids
Karma is a big idea in Jainism, a very old religion. It's about how your actions, thoughts, and words affect your future. Jains believe that your soul is stuck in a cycle of rebirth, moving from one life to another. This cycle is called saṃsāra. To break free and reach liberation (mokṣa), you need to purify your soul.
Jains think of karma as tiny, invisible particles that are everywhere. These particles stick to your soul when you do things, think things, or say things. For example, if you lie, steal, or hurt someone, karma particles attach to your soul. This karma can make your soul less pure and clear. It's like a kind of pollution that can even change the "color" of your soul (called leśyā). Depending on your karma, your soul might be reborn as a human, an animal, or even in a heaven or a hell.
Jains see the unfairness and suffering in the world as proof that karma exists. They believe that your actions, and the reasons behind them, determine what kind of karma you get. The Jain idea of karma means you are fully responsible for your own life. It teaches that you can change your karma and become free from it by living a pure life and practicing self-control.
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What Jains Believe About Karma
Jains believe that all souls are naturally pure and perfect. They have endless knowledge, understanding, happiness, and energy. But in our world, souls are mixed with karma, which hides these perfect qualities. This has been happening for a very long time. Think of it like gold ore, which is found mixed with dirt. The soul is like the gold, and karma is the dirt. Just as gold can be cleaned, the soul can be purified. Jain monks have studied karma for centuries, explaining how it works and how to achieve mokṣa. There's even a special type of karma called Tirthankara-nama-karma that helps a soul become a tirthankara, a great spiritual teacher.
Karma as Tiny Particles
Jainism teaches that karma is like tiny, invisible "dirt" particles found everywhere. These particles are so small that even the tiniest bit of space holds countless numbers of them. These are the particles that stick to your soul and affect its natural power. This physical karma is called dravya karma. The feelings you experience, like joy or sadness, are called bhava karma, or psychic karma.
These two types of karma are connected. Physical karma causes feelings and emotions in souls. These emotions then create psychic karma, which in turn attracts more physical karma. Jains believe that karma particles help your consciousness interact with the physical world. They are like carriers for your soul's desire to experience life. When they stick to your consciousness, they form a special karmic body called kārmaṇa śarīra. This karmic body surrounds your soul. When your soul and ripened karma interact, you experience life in the world.
Karma: A Natural Law
According to Jain thinkers, karma works like natural laws, similar to how gravity works. If you drop an apple, it falls. There's no judge deciding if it should fall; it just does. In the same way, if you lie or act violently, consequences happen naturally. Jains believe the universe has a built-in moral order. This order works through the law of karma, without any divine judge.
Living a moral life is important in Jainism because it helps you get rid of karma. This leads to lasting happiness. The Jain idea of karma means that you are in charge of your own salvation, not a god. As one Jain scholar said, "Nothing can come between the actions we do and what happens because of them." This means you are truly free, but also fully responsible for everything you do.
Karma's Strong Power
Jains believe that the results of karma are certain and cannot be avoided. No divine power can save you from them. Only by practicing self-control and difficult spiritual practices can you change or lessen the effects of karma. Sometimes, you just have to accept your karma calmly. An old Jain text says, "There is nothing stronger in the world than karma; karma crushes all powers."
Jain stories often show how powerful karma is. Even Māhavīra, a very important Jain teacher, had to face the results of his past karma. He did this by enduring twelve years of very strict self-control before he reached perfect knowledge. Texts describe how Māhavīra calmly faced many hardships, like being hit or covered in dust, but he kept going towards liberation.
Rebirth and New Lives
Karma is a core idea in Jainism, linked to concepts like rebirth, liberation, non-violence (ahiṃsā), and not being attached to things. Actions have consequences, some immediate, some much later, even in future lives. So, karma isn't just about this life, but also about past and future lives. An ancient text says that the soul can be born in heavens, hells, or as humans or animals, all because of its karma. It also states that karma is the reason for birth and death, keeping souls in the cycle of existence.
There's no punishment or reward from a god. It's just the natural result of choices you made, whether you knew it or not. This is why Jains emphasize pure thoughts and good behavior.
Four Ways of Being Reborn
Jain texts describe four main ways a soul can be reborn, called gatis:
- deva (god-like beings)
- manuṣya (humans)
- nāraki (hell beings)
- tiryañca (animals, plants, and tiny living things)
These four gatis match different levels in the Jain universe. God-like beings live in higher heavens, humans and animals live in the middle, and hell beings live in lower hells. Tiny, simple souls called nigoda are everywhere. They are so small they don't even have individual bodies and live in groups. Jains believe there are 8.4 million different types of births souls can experience in the cycle of samsara.
In Jainism, God doesn't decide your future. Your destiny is based on your own karma. Old Jain texts connect specific actions to specific rebirths. For example, violent acts can lead to rebirth in hell. Deceit leads to rebirth as an animal or plant. Kindness and humility lead to human birth. Spiritual practices can lead to rebirth in heaven.
Jain philosophy also describes five types of bodies: earthly (like most humans), metamorphic (like gods who can change shape), transference (pure substances for ascetics), fiery (for digestion), and karmic (where karma particles live). Every living being has senses, powers, breathing, and a lifespan. All beings collect and get rid of eight types of karma. These detailed ideas help explain the Jain karma theory within a moral framework.
Lesya: The Soul's Color
The Jain theory of karma says that karma particles give a "color" (leśyā) to the soul. This color depends on your thoughts and feelings behind your actions. It's like a crystal that takes on the color of what's around it. The soul also reflects the taste, smell, and touch of the karma, but color is usually what's talked about. There are six main leśyā colors: black, blue, grey, yellow, red, and white.
Black, blue, and grey are unlucky leśyā that lead to bad fortune. Yellow, red, and white are lucky leśyā that lead to good fortune. An old text describes the thoughts of people with black and white leśyā.
To explain leśyās, Jain texts use an example of six travelers looking at a fruit tree. They all want fruit:
- One suggests pulling up the whole tree. (Black leśyā - very bad thoughts)
- The second suggests cutting the tree trunk. (Blue leśyā)
- The third suggests cutting only the branches. (Grey leśyā)
- The fourth suggests cutting twigs, but saving branches and the tree. (Yellow leśyā)
- The fifth suggests picking only the fruits. (Red leśyā)
- The sixth suggests picking up only the fruits that have already fallen. (White leśyā - very pure thoughts)
Their thoughts, words, and actions show their different leśyās. The person with black leśyā has evil thoughts, wanting to destroy the whole tree for one fruit. The person with white leśyā has pure thoughts, only taking fallen fruit to protect the tree.
Actions and Intentions
The role of your intentions is very important in karma theory. In Jainism, intentions are important, but not the only thing that makes an action wrong. Even if you don't mean to do something wrong, if your action causes harm, you are still responsible for the karmic results.
For example, if a monk accidentally gives poisoned food to others and they die, Jains believe the monk is responsible for the violent act. This is because his ignorance or carelessness led to harm. So, even if you didn't mean to, if your actions cause violence, you are still guilty of it. Jains believe that carelessness itself can be seen as an intention to cause harm.
Strong negative emotions like anger, pride, deceit, and greed (called kaṣāya) make the soul vibrate more. This causes the soul to absorb more karma. An old text says, "An intentional act creates a strong karmic bond, and an unintentional act creates a weak, short-lived karmic bond." Also, just having the intention to do something wrong is enough for karma to stick to the soul, even if you don't actually do it. Jainism emphasizes both the physical action and the intention behind it for karma to bind.
How Karma Works: Sticking and Releasing
The Jain karmic process is based on seven main truths (tattva) that explain human life. Four of these truths are about karma:
- āsrava (inflow of karma)
- bandha (karma sticking to the soul)
- saṃvara (stopping new karma from coming in)
- nirjarā (shedding old karma)
Karma Sticking to the Soul
Karma sticks to the soul through two steps: āsrava and bandha.
- Āsrava is when karma particles flow into the soul. This happens because of the soul's vibrations from thoughts, speech, and body actions (called yoga).
- Bandha is when these karma particles actually stick to the soul. This binding happens because the soul is "sticky" due to negative emotions or passions.
Passions like anger, pride, deceit, and greed are called "sticky" (kaṣāyas) because they act like glue, making karma particles stick to the soul. When karma flows in because of these passions, it creates a long-lasting karmic bond, keeping the soul in the cycle of rebirths. Actions not driven by strong passions only have a short-term karmic effect. That's why ancient Jain texts advise controlling these negative emotions.
Why Karma Sticks
The Jain theory of karma says that karma particles stick to souls because of four factors related to actions:
- Instrument: Was the action done with the body, speech, or mind?
- Process: Did you decide to act, plan it, prepare for it, and then do it?
- Modality: Did you do the act yourself, make someone else do it, or approve of it?
- Motivation: What negative emotions (like anger or greed) prompted the act?
All actions involve these four factors. Jain teachers say there are 108 ways karma can be attracted to the soul. Even silently agreeing to violence from far away has karmic results. So, scriptures advise being careful in actions, aware of the world, and having pure thoughts to avoid karma.
According to the important Jain text, Tattvārthasūtra: "Wrong beliefs, not controlling yourself, carelessness, passions, and activities are what cause karma to stick." "The soul attracts karma particles when it is driven by passions. This is karma sticking."
The causes of karma sticking, which a soul must remove to grow spiritually, are:
- Mithyātva (Wrong beliefs): Not understanding how the world truly works, having narrow or wrong views, and being ignorant.
- Avirati (Lack of self-control): Not being able to stop yourself from doing harmful actions. You can overcome this by following small vows.
- Pramāda (Carelessness): Being absentminded, not caring about spiritual growth, and acting without thinking about yourself or others.
- Kaṣāya (Passions): Anger, pride, deceit, and greed are the main reasons karma sticks. They keep the soul trapped in delusion and endless rebirths.
- Yoga (Activities): Actions of the mind, speech, and body.
To move up the spiritual ladder (called guṇasthāna), a soul must remove these causes of karma sticking one by one.
When Karma Shows Its Effects
The results of karma are unavoidable, but they might take time to appear. A Jain monk explained that a bad person's good fortune or a good person's suffering are results of past good or bad deeds. The effects of current actions might show up in future lives.
Hidden karma becomes active and shows its effects when the right conditions appear. Most of our daily actions are influenced by mild emotions, so they cause minor, fleeting karma. But actions influenced by strong negative emotions create strong karma that usually doesn't show up right away. It waits for the right time, place, and environment to appear. If the conditions don't come, the karma will still show its effects at the very end of its binding period. The type of karma, the intensity of emotions when it stuck, and our current situation determine when it becomes active. Some karmas can be delayed, but never completely stopped.
Jain texts explain the difference in how karma affects someone with right belief versus wrong belief: "The ignorant person, focused on different types of karma, experiences the results of karma (as pleasure and pain). But the knowledgeable person knows the results of karma but does not get caught up in them."
Changing Karma's Effects
Even though Jains believe karmic results are certain, Jain texts also say that a soul has the power to change and modify karma's effects. Karma can go through these changes:
- Udaya (maturity): Karma showing its effects naturally when its time comes.
- Udīraṇa (early action): Making certain karmas show their effects before their set time.
- Udvartanā (increase): The duration and intensity of karma increasing due to more negative emotions.
- Apavartanā (decrease): The duration and intensity of karma decreasing due to positive emotions.
- Saṃkramaṇa (transformation): One type of karma changing into another sub-type. For example, bad karma (papa) can change into good karma (punya).
- Upaśamanā (stopping for a while): Karma not showing its effects for a period. It becomes active again when this period ends.
- Nidhatti (prevention): Early action and transformation are not possible, but increase and decrease of karma are.
- Nikācanā (unchangeable): For some karmas, no changes or modifications are possible. The results are exactly as they were set when the karma stuck.
So, the Jain karma theory says that the soul has great power to manage karma through its actions.
Releasing Karma
Jain philosophy states that you cannot achieve liberation until your soul is free from karma. This happens by:
- Samvara (stopping new karma): This is done by practicing:
* Three guptis (controls) of mind, speech, and body. * Five samitis (carefulness) in movement, speaking, eating, placing objects, and disposing of waste. * Ten dharmas (good acts) like forgiveness, humility, honesty, contentment, truthfulness, self-control, penance, giving up things, non-attachment, and purity. * Anuprekshas (meditating on universal truths). * Pariṣahajaya (being patient and calm in difficult situations). * Cāritra (staying in steady spiritual practices).
- nirjarā (shedding existing karma): This is done through tapas, which means austerities and penances. Tapas can be external (like fasting, controlling appetite, giving up tasty food) or internal (like atonement, respect, serving others, studying spiritual texts, avoiding selfish feelings, and meditation).
Why Karma Matters
The idea of karma is very important because it helps explain why people are born into different situations, why some are happy and some are sad, and why there are so many different kinds of living beings. An old Jain text says that people are born in different places and families, some rich, some poor, some healthy, some not, all based on their past actions.
Jains use the inequalities and suffering in the world as proof of karma. Karma explains things we see every day, like why some people are rich and others poor, why some are lucky, or why some immoral people seem to enjoy life. Jains believe these differences, even from birth, are due to actions in past lives.
For example, why are twins born from the same mother sometimes so different—one smart, one dull; one rich, one poor? They didn't do anything in the womb. Jains say these differences must be from their actions in past lives. This "force" that creates all these differences is called karma. Even though we can't see karma, we can see its effects.
Criticisms of Karma
The Jain idea of karma has faced challenges from other Indian philosophies. Some Hindu thinkers, for example, criticized Jainism for saying that karma is so powerful that no Supreme Being can change a soul's fate. They called this "atheistic." They argued that karma alone can't bring about results; there must be a conscious being (like a god) to make sure justice happens.
Buddhists also criticized Jainism's strong focus on karma and strict self-control. The Buddha argued that focusing on destroying unseen karma types was less important than getting rid of evil mental states like greed, hatred, and delusion, which are easier to see and change. The Buddha also disagreed with the Jain idea that physical actions are the most harmful, saying that actions of the mind are the most harmful. He also felt that extreme self-control didn't lead to happiness.
While acknowledging the complexity of Jain karma, some scholars point out that Jains don't explain the exact moment a soul re-enters a womb after death. Also, the idea of nitya-nigoda (souls that have always been nigodas – the lowest, tiny beings) is criticized. If these beings have always been nigodas, they wouldn't have had a chance to do any meaningful karmic actions, which seems to go against the idea of karma.
Some people also criticize karma for making people feel helpless, as if their lives are completely decided by past actions. However, Jains believe that karma does not mean you have no free will. You are responsible for your actions, and you can change bad karma through self-control and by following the path of the Jinas (spiritual victors).
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