Page:The Heart of Jainism (IA heartofjainism00stevuoft).djvu/210

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182
KARMA AND THE

(Manu5ya ayu karma), and also enters a state in which he understands which gurus and gods are true and which books rehable, and in obedience to them he protects all life and follows the dictates of the Jaina religion. But a man who gives way to craftiness and intrigue will be sentenced to pass some of his next life as a bird or beast (Tiryahc ayu karma); another by indulging in any of the following sins: gambling, drinking intoxicants, eating flesh, unchastity, thieving, or hunting, is determining the time he will pass in hell (Naraka ayu karma),

vi. Nama
karma.
In studying Ayu karma we have seen that a jiva may be sentenced to spend a certain time as a man, a god, an insect, or a hell-being. Each of these four states or con- ditions is called gati, and it is according to our past deeds that we are born in the Manu§ya gati, Deva gati, Tiryafic gati, or Naraka gati, the karma that decides which of these four shall be our particular gati, i.e. in which prison we shall dwell, being called Ndma karma.^ There are one hundred and three divisions of Nama karma, many of which w^e have already discussed when we were studying the categories of Papa and Puiiya.

vii. Gotra
karma.
An Indian's whole life, his occupation, the locality in which he may live, his marriage, his religious observances and even his food and fellow diners are determined by the caste into which he is born ; so that it is small wonder if a Jaina attach the greatest importance to the accumula- tion of Gotra karma, which, as he believes, determines his caste in his next and subsequent lives. There are two main divisions of this karma : it decides whether the jiva shall be born in a high- or in a low-caste family. Pride is one of the chief factors in determining a man's future caste : if he indulge in pride about his high caste, his

^ Dr. Bhandarkar quotes Govindananda's saying : ' Namika, i. e. the belief that I am a person bearing such and such a name ; Gotrika, i. e. the knowledge that I now belong to the family of the pupils of the worshipful Arhat.' Loc. cit., p. 97. None of the Jaina that the writer has consulted accept these translations as correct.