The Jaina Doctrine of Karma And The Science Of Genetics: Classification Of Karma

Each soul (jīva) possesses innumerable qualities. In its purest natural state each soul is exactly like another and is endured with eight qualities:

1	Keval jñana (omniscience)	pure and perfect knowledge, the faculty of instantly cognizing, by direct experience, the content of the whole universe which contains all reality and nothing but reality, without any contradiction or discrepancy.
2	Kevala darśana	pure and perfect intuition (darśana) - the faculty of instantly apprehending, by direct experience, the whole of real existence, without separation of contents, as a system with total internal consistency and structure but without reference to anything beyond.
3	Ātmika sukha	self generated blissfulness which transcends pleasure/pain and joy/grief and which has no reference to anything outside the self.
4	Ksāyika samyaktva	possessions of complete truth.
5	Atala avagāhana	eternal unchanging existence - freedom from transmigration.
6	Amūrtva	total formlessness.
7	Agurulaghutva	total parity with other pure souls.
8	Ananta vīrya	unfiltered and unrestricted spiritual energy.[1]

The soul in its pure state possesses a number of characteristic attributes which are obscured and distorted in the defiled state of bondage. This obscuration and distortion find expression in the imperfect existence of the soul. In the state of perfection, the soul has infiniteness of knowledge, intuition and bliss as well freedom from delusion, delimited longevity embodied existence, difference of status and obstruction of energy. The karmic matter obscures or obstructs these characteristics of the soul and keeps it away from its supreme state of existence. The soul, under the influence of passions (kṣāya) an possessed of yoga (that is the vibration of body, vocal organs and mind) attracts karmic matter (karma pudgala)^[2] which then in inseparably mixed up with the soul.

The resultant state is bondage (bandha). ^[3] Even as a lamp by its temperature draws up the oil with its wick and, after drawing up, converts the oil into its body (viz. glow) exactly so does a soul-lamp, with the attributes of attachment and the like, attracts the material aggregates by the wick of its activities and after attracting transforms into karma.^[4]