Today’s topic is something we have touched upon many times. So many times that I thought necessary to dedicate a day for it – the topic of the foursome kaṡāy – anger (क्रोध), ego (मान), deceit (माया), greed (लोभ). Interestingly, almost every philosophy says that these are the cause of the bondage, sufferings, etc. And if you reverse question as why are these four there. It would come back as because of the karm bondage we have.
“That looks like a vicious cycle. Kaṡāy because of bondage, and bondage because of kaṡāy”, interrupted Ātmā.
Yes, it is.
If it is a cycle, can we ever come out of it and be a free soul aka go to mokṡ.
Yes, sure. But for that, one needs to understand as how to break the cycle. The key is puruṡārth – one’s own effort.
Yes. We had talked about it under the drivers of our activities.
Correct. That is the only one which could break the cycle. Bondage would lead to kaṡāy, but with our conscious efforts, we can prevent them to further cause bondage – thus breaking the cycle.
How do we do that?
Simply by being equanimous in the situations of provocation of kaṡāy.
“That’s hell lot of effort”, exclaimed Yog.
Ya but that’s what is needed to break the cycle. In fact, it looks complex only at its face. There are ways to make it simple.
Tell us that.
The kaṡāy could be broken up into four stages, and then we may master its control to equanimity through these stages, one by one.
Are these four stages for all the four kaṡāy?
Yes. Thus, there becomes four x four = sixteen kaṡāy, but for the time being we’d consider it just as four stages, each with the four kaṡāy. The various insights into the four stages of kaṡāy is tabulated as follows (alongwith the various stages of soul purification):
| Kaṡāy stage | Guṅasthān | Max period of the stage | Next birth | Avoid falling back to previous stage by effort of Forgiving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| anantānubandhī (severest) | 1, 3 | Life long | Hell | Already at the lowest |
| apratyākhyān (severe) | 2, 4 | 1 year | Tiriyanch | Forgive within 1 year |
| pratyākhyān (light) | 5 | 1 month | Human | Forgive within 4 months |
| sanjwalan (lightest) | 6-10 | 15 days | Heaven | Forgive within 15 days |
| Zero kaṡāy stage | 11 | < 48 minutes | Heaven | Not controllable by puruṡārth – would eventually fall back to previous stages |
| Zero kaṡāy stage | 12-14 | Permanent | Mokṡ | Not controllable by puruṡārth – would be maintained forever |
“What I understand from the chart is that once we reach 12-14th stages of soul, we don’t need to put any efforts to be equanimous”, clarified Ātmā.
Yes – there you are already equanimous and it is self-sustaining – basically you have broken the cycle and are heading to permanent mokṡ.
That’s great. I think the last column in the chart is really something that gives us the direction to conquer our kaṡāy.
Yes. And other columns shall give you motivation.
Before we close for today, can you please provide some analogies for us to understand the four stages for each of the four kaṡāy? That way we could be more alert of our kaṡāy, so as to take some actions to conquer it.
Ya sure. In fact, I’ll quote the analogies from the philosophical text, itself:
| Anger | Ego | Deceit | Greed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Strong as) | (Stubborn as) | (Twisted as) | (Sticky as) | |
| anantānubandhī | Etching on a stone | Stone pillar | Bamboo roots | Colour of silk |
| apratyākhyān | Etching on hard land | Bone pillar | Sheep horns | Colour of mud |
| pratyākhyān | Etching on sand | Wood pillar | Pee-line of a walking ox | Grease |
| sanjwalan | Etching on water | Vine pillar | Stripping bamboo bark | Colour of turmeric |
Thanks. That looks cool.