portion is on the basis of Tattvartha Sutra.)
: All creatures appear to be unhappy in this world and they also
make efforts to get rid of the causes of unhappiness. They cannot,
however, get rid of these without having right knowledge of the
essential seven fundamentals.
What are those essential fundamentals, without whose knowledge
and right faith, we cannot get rid of worldly unhappiness ?
: Our real concern is to remove unhappiness and become happy.
All those fundamentals, without correct faith and consciousness
whereof, we cannot remove our miseries of this existence are the
essential fundamentals. 'Tattva' means real nature of a substance.
The purport of a substance, as it is, is 'Tattva'. Such fundamentals
are seven as given by Uma Swami in Tattvartha Sutra : soul,
non-soul, psychic influx, bondage, stoppage of influx, partial
release from bondage and liberation i.e. complete shedding of
: Kindly explain these in brief.
: Soul is intrinsically an embodiment of knowing activity and
perception. Devoid of knowing activity and perception, totally
different from soul, are all non-soul entities. Matter and others
are all non-soul objects. Different from all non-soul elements, the
sentient being is the soul. I am that soul. The rest of the five
substances are non-soul objects.
have two fundamentals only - soul and the non-soul. Influx and other
elements are the combinations of soul and non-soul entities.
If influx etc. are only combinations of soul and non-soul
elements, why have they been described separately?
: Our ultimate goal is complete liberation (Moksha). Therefore,
influx etc. have been described as five distinct manifestations.
Without having real faith in all these seven elements, one cannot
start on the path of liberation. How can we have distinction of the
self and the non-self without knowing living and non-living
entities? How should one try to attain Godhood without knowing its
nature and that it is the most coveted state? Stoppage of influx and
partial release from bondage are means to complete liberation. It
is, as such, necessary to know them. Absence of influx is partial
release from bondage and partial absence of bondage is release from
bondage. How can one make attempts for stoppage and partial release
from bondage without knowing these ?
We were told in the discourse that the soul is all the time
without blemish, distinct from pure and impure manifestations and it
is that which is worthy of becoming a refuge for us.
: It is a matter of having a spiritual vision. From the point of
view of all sided consciousness, the soul is constituted of pure and
: What is this spiritual vision ?
The permanent all sentient soul element, separate from all
non-soul objects and pure and impure influxes and other impure
inclinations, as also different from obstructions of influxes or
pure and impure inclinations, is the object of our vision. When this
vision is before us, impurities and divisions are set aside and all
knowing permanent sentient entity is called the soul and it is due
to its adherance that stoppage of influxes and partial release from
attachments and aversions that attract karmic matter of eight kinds
are called psychic influxes and the arrival of the Karmas e.g. that
obstructing consciousness, is material influx.
In the same way
soul's settling in non-consciousness, delusion, attachment and
aversion, merit and demerit and other impurities is called psychic
bondage and the settling of the karmic matter in the soul space, on
account of those, is called material bondage.
Why have merits and demerits been included in bondage?
Merits and demerits are only parts of bondage. Attachment towards
higher entities and inclinations attract merit influxes and bondage,
and impure inclinations and actions, aversions and delusions attract
demerit influxes and bondage. Both types of attachment, good and
bad, i.e. merits and demerits are to be shunned, because they are
influx and bondage elements. To stop both auspicious and
inauspicious emotions with the help of pure unattached feelings of
the soul is called psychic stoppage and the automatic stopping of
the inflow of fresh karmic matter is material stoppage. Same way,
the partial shedding of impurity from the state of the soul, with
the strength of the sentient soul is psychic shedding, and at the
same time, the automatic shedding of karmic matter is material
: What about Moksha (complete liberation)?
: The complete annihilation of the impure state and the
emergence of the completely pure and perfect state of the soul is
psychic liberation. The complete destruction of the soul is psychic
liberation. The complete destruction of the karmic matter is
The real method of
attaining true happiness is to know the above seven fundamentals and
to adhere to our soul element, diverting our vision from all
Dr. H.C. Bharill