For the stoppage of the inflow of karmic matter into a soul, the Sanskrit term 'samvara' is used. This term is formed from two words, viz. a preposition 'sam' and a verbal root 'ur'. The verbal root 'ur' prefixed with the preposition 'sam' yields the meaning 'to stop, to prevent'. Highly spiritual internal states of the soul, causing control and restraint of the mental, vocal and bodily activities, effect the stoppage of the inflow of karmic matter. So, even those spiritual internal stales as also the controlled and restrained threefold activities themselves arc regarded as the stoppage of the inflow of karmic matter. The Sanskrit term 'asrava is derived from the verbal root 'sr' meaning 'to ooze', prefixed with the preposition 'a'. Hence, it means the inflow of the karmic matter into the soul, or the activities through which this inflow takes place. And the prevention of the inflow is called 'samvara . The higher the spiritual stage, the thinner is the inflow of karmic matter. The greater the cessation of the inflow of karmic matter, the higher is the spiritual plane, attained by the soul. |
