Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/283

VII] Modes of Ignorance 26 7 proceed from the five-fold afflictions (klefas), namely avidyii, asmitii, raga, dvea and abhillivefa. vVe have already noticed what was meant byavidya. It con- sists generally in ascribing intelligence to buddhi, in thinking it as permanent and leading to happiness. This false knowledge while remaining in this form further manifests itself in the other four forms of asmita, etc. Asmita means the thinking of worldly objects and our experiences as really belonging to us-the sense of " mine" or " I " to things that really are the qualities or transformations of the gU1)as. Raga means the consequent attach- ment to pleasures and things. Dvea means aversion or antipathy to unpleasant things. Abhinivesa is the desire for life or love of life-the will to be. Ve proceed to work because we think our experiences to be our own, our body to be our own, our family to be our own, our possessions to be our own; because we are attached to these; because we feel great antipathy against any mischief that might befall them, and also because we love our life and always try to preserve it against any mischief. These all proceed, as is easy to see, from their root avidya, ,,'hich consists in the false identification of buddhi with purua. These five, avidya, asmita, raga, dvea and abhinivesa, permeate our buddhi, and lead us to perform karma and to suffer. These together with the performed karmas which lie inherent in the buddhi as a particular mode of it transmigrate with the buddhi from birth to birth, and it is hard to get rid of them 1. The karma in the aspect in which it lies in the buddhi as a mode or modification of it is called kar11liifaya (the bed of karma for the purua to lie in). Ve perform a karma actuated by the vicious tendencies (klcfa) of the buddhi. The karma when thus performed leaves its stain or modification on the buddhi, and it is so ordained according to the teleology of the prakrti and the removal of obstacles in the course of its evolution in accordance with it by the permanent will of Isvara that each vicious action brings sufferance and a virtuous one pleasure. The karmas performed in the present life will generally ac- cumulate, and when the time for giving their fruits comes, such a life is ordained for the person, such a body is made ready for him according to the evolution of prakrti as shall make it possible for him to suffer or enjoy the fruits thereo[ The karma of the 1 Vyiisablziifya and Tattvavaifiiradi, II. 3-9.