Philosophy In Jain Agams: Karma Bondage and Guṇasthāna (14 stages of spiritual development)

The Lifespan determining karma is bound from the 1st guṇasthāna to the seventh guṇasthana, except the 3rd  guṇasthāna.^[1] In the seventh guṇasthāna also, bondage of this karma cannot begin, but, if the process of bondage has already began in the sixth guṇasthāna and in between if the soul has ascended to the seventh guṇasthāna, then the completion of this bondage can take place in the seventh guṇasthāna. In the tenth guṇasthāna, six kinds of karmas are bound leaving out the life- span determining and deluding karmas. There is a mention in Samavāyāṅga, that in the tenth guṇasthāna, seventeen sub- types of karma can be bound. Those seventeen karmas are the sub-types of the above said six karmas. The Bhagavatī also mentions that six karmas can be bound at a time, but, it does not explain how many and of what sub-types of karmas can be bound. This is clarified in Samavāyāṅga. In the commentary of Samavāyāṅga, this fact has been described. The being in the tenth guṇasthāna binds only seventeen kinds of sub- types of karmas, out of one hundred and twenty sub- types. The balance 103 sub-types are excluded from bondage in the previous guṇasthānas.

Even out of these seventeen, sixteen kinds of karmas are stopped from binding after the tenth guṇasthāna. They are as follows: Five kinds of knowledge obscuring, four kinds of intuition, five kinds of obstructing or hindrance producing karma, high status determining karma and fame determining karma. The bondage of only sātāvedanīya karma (pleasure producing karma) continues in further states.^[2] The asātāvedanīya karma (pain producing karma) is bound due to the effect of deluding karma. When this deluding karma is suppressed or eliminated, the bondage of only sāta vedanīya karma takes place. The bondage of only sātā vedanīya karma remains in the 11th  to 13th  guṇasthānas. In the 14th  guṇasthāna, the bondage of karma does not occur at all. The above description depicts the following states of karma bondage:

1. Bondage of eight karmas at a time
2. Bondage of seven karmas at a time
3. Bondage of six karmas at a time
4. Bondage of single karma at a time
5. State of non-bondage

This implies that there can never be a bondage of two, three, four and five karmas at a time. This condition of karmic bondage is based on the concept of guṇasthāna. The soul of particular guṇasthāna binds the particular number of karmas. This fact becomes clear from the above description.