if a soul is pure by default, why do we even have karma?

The soul (ātmā) is a formless, invisible substance (dravya) characterized by consciousness and sentience [2, 4]. It is defined as the "knower" or the "cognizer"; that through which knowledge is gained is the soul [1, 2]. Key characteristics of the soul include: * **Nature and Attributes:** Its inherent nature is consciousness, and its natural qualities are purity, peace, happiness, compassion, infinite energy, and infinite knowledge [4, 5]. * **Relationship with Knowledge:** While the soul is the substance and knowledge is its attribute (quality), the two are neither absolutely separate nor absolutely one; the attribute resides within the substance [1, 2]. * **Individuality:** Every soul is independent and consists of innumerable space-points [3]. While all souls share the same attribute of sentience—meaning they all love pleasure and detest pain—they are numerically distinct [3]. * **State and Liberation:** The soul's true nature can be sullied by karmas [4, 5]. By following the "Three Jewels" (right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct), a soul can rid itself of these karmas to achieve a state of pure cognition and eternal bliss (liberation) [4].

Vedaniya karma is one of the eight types of karma in Jainism, classified under the Aghāti (non-destructive) karmas. It is responsible for creating favorable or unfavorable physical circumstances—such as sickness, terminal illness, hunger, fatigue, accidents, or good sound health and positive physical capability—which give the apparent feeling of pain (Ashātā) or pleasure (Shātā) at the physical level [1][2]. This physical feeling then activates Mohaniya karma to produce happiness (Sukha) and agony (Dukha) at the mental level, indirectly obscuring the soul's blissful nature [1][2]. Vedaniya karma has two main types: Shātā vedaniya (pleasurable sensations) and Ashātā vedaniya (painful sensations) [4][5]. A Kevali (omniscient being) still possesses Vedaniya karma but not Mohaniya karma, so they remain a silent observer of favorable or unfavorable circumstances without interpreting them as joy or sorrow, remaining in a blissful state at all times [1][2]. The word "Vedan" means experience or feeling of pain and pleasure, which is distinct from sorrow/agony and joy/happiness/bliss—though for an average person with strong Mohaniya karma, these are so intermixed that they cannot be differentiated [1].

Darshanavarniya (perception-obscuring) karma is one of the eight principal karmas in Jainism. It obscures the soul's power of general, non-specific perception (Darshan), as opposed to Jnanavarniya karma, which obscures specific knowledge. It has nine subtypes: four that obscure perception (sight, non-sight through other senses and mind, remote perception of objects without senses, and perfect perception) and five related to sleep (easy sleep, deep sleep, sleep while sitting/standing, sleep while walking, and sleepwalking). Its effects include blindness, sensory inadequacy, sleepiness, and swooning [1][2]. Nirjara is the process of exhausting or shedding accumulated karma. It occurs in two ways: Akam Nirjara, where karma naturally produces results and is exhausted, though new karma then pours in; and Sakam Nirjara, the real penance, where one destroys karma before maturity through rigorous external penance (fasting, reduced food, controlling desires, giving up tasty food, solitude, and tolerating physical pain) and internal penance (repentance, humility, selfless service, study, meditation, and Kayotsarga) [4]. The Tattvartha Sutra notes that nirjara is a partial annihilation of karmic bondage and an integral part of moksha; its degree increases progressively across ten spiritual states, from samyak-drsti to the omniscient jina, with each later state having an asankhyata (innumerable) times greater nirjara than the earlier one [3].

The primary causes of Jñānāvarṇīya (knowledge-obscuring) karma are six defiled tendencies or actions directed toward knowledge (jñāna), its possessor, or its means [1]: 1. **Jealousy (Īrṣyā)** – feeling envious of knowledge, of a learned person, or of the means of acquiring knowledge. 2. **Concealment (Antardhāna)** – when asked for knowledge or its means, falsely claiming "I do not know" or "I do not have it" from a defiled motive. 3. **Ungenerosity (Asatkāra)** – refusing to share knowledge that is ripe and fit to be communicated, even when a competent receiver is present. 4. **Obstruction (Upaghāta)** – impeding someone's effort to receive knowledge. 5. **Denial (Apavāda)** – denying through speech or bodily gesture that someone is communicating knowledge. 6. **Accusation (Pariṣaha)** – leveling false accusations against a speaker who has made a proper statement, due to one's own perverse intellect. These same six causes also apply to darśana (perception/indeterminate cognition) when directed toward perception, its possessor, or its means [1]. In general, all karma bondage shares the common causes of yoga (activities of body, speech, and mind) and kaṣāya (passions like anger, ego, deceit, and greed), but the specific causes above are what particularly bind Jñānāvarṇīya karma [1][4].

Yes, according to Jain philosophy, the existence of the soul can be proven, primarily through direct self-awareness and inference. The key argument, presented by Bhagawan Mahavir to Indrabhuti Gautam, is that the very experience of doubt, consciousness, or the "I" feeling is direct proof of the soul's existence [1]. For instance, the statement "I did," "I am doing," or "I shall do" implies a continuous "I" or ego-consciousness that persists through past, present, and future, and this "I" is the soul [1]. Similarly, the experience of "I am happy" or "I am unhappy" establishes the soul, as unconscious objects like pots or cloth cannot have such feelings [2]. Beyond direct perception, the soul's existence is also proven through inference and logical reasoning. For example, the soul is inferred as the cause of happiness and unhappiness, just as clay is inferred from a pot [3]. Furthermore, disparities between siblings raised in the same environment point to a latent cause—the karmas from previous lives—which requires the existence of the soul in an earlier life [2]. The soul can also be directly perceived by omniscient beings (Kevala-jnana), and its existence is confirmed by the fact that wherever there is a doubt, there must be a doubter [3].

In Jainism, there is no fixed limit on the number of "munusha" (human) lives a soul can take. The soul is eternal and unique, and it wanders through countless rebirths across various life forms—one-sensed beings, two- to five-sensed beings, heavenly and hellish realms—driven by its karma [1]. The duration and number of births in each state vary: for example, a soul in a five-sensed animal yoni lives for seven or eight births at most, while in heaven or hell it lives for only one life [2]. However, human life itself is not capped; a soul can be born as a human many times over its long journey, and the texts emphasize how difficult and precious human birth is because liberation is possible only from that state [1][2]. The key point is that the soul's cycle of rebirths is essentially endless until liberation (moksha), and there is no maximum count of human births. The soul may even fall back into the Nigod (infinite souls sharing one body) category after acquiring very bad karma, from which it can later emerge again [5]. So, rather than a limit, the teaching stresses urgency: since human life is rare and the opportunity for liberation is unique, one should not waste a single moment [2].