If a person dies due to someone else's carelessness, then is it due to person's own karma or is it due to another person's karm

Ayush karma (life-span karma) can be reduced through poison or drug overdose only when it was bound in a "loose" (apavartaniya) form, not a "tight" (anapavartaniya) one. Whether the life-quantum is reducible depends on the intensity of the mental perturbation at the time of karmic bondage: if the perturbation was mild, the bondage is loose and the life-quantum can be "enjoyed away" before its due period; if intense, the bondage is tight and cannot be reduced even by weapons or poison [1]. This reduction is called *apavartana* (time-reduction) or *akāla-mṛtyu* (untimely death), as opposed to *anapavartana* (timely death) [1]. In karma theory, *apavartanā* (dilution/reduction) is a deliberate effort that reduces the duration or intensity of karma bondage while the karma is in its dormant (sattā) state [2][4]. So poison or overdose acts as an external trigger that prematurely exhausts a loosely-bound life-quantum, causing the soul to leave the body before the originally fixed lifespan ends. This is distinct from *udīraṇā* (premature operation), where penance deliberately ripens karma early [2][4].

I'm so sorry for your loss. This is an incredibly heavy burden to carry, and the feeling that your actions contributed to it makes the grief even more complex. The knowledge base offers a framework for coping with guilt and seeking forgiveness, primarily through the Jain concept of *Pratikraman* (introspection and repentance). To cope, the first and most crucial step is to forgive yourself. The sources emphasize that "before forgiving others, we should first forgive ourselves... by being gentle with ourselves, by dropping [guilt], by soothing our battered self" [5]. This self-forgiveness is the foundation that prepares you to deal with the deeper pain. The process of asking for forgiveness involves sincere penitence and a solemn resolve not to repeat the mistake [1]. This is done with true humility and the elimination of hatred, as the request for forgiveness "requires humility (Vinay - absence of ego) and elimination of hatred" [4]. You can ask for forgiveness through heartfelt prayer, using words like "Michchhami Dukkadam," which means "if I have committed any mistake, knowingly or unknowingly, I ask for your forgiveness" [4]. The act of asking is itself a form of expiation and a way to begin shedding the karmic weight of your actions [4]. As for knowing if she forgave you, the knowledge base offers a profound insight: forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself, not something you receive from the departed. One source states, "Forgiveness is clearly for us!" [2]. Since your mother is no longer physically present, you cannot receive a direct sign. Instead, you must find peace within yourself. The story of "The Angry Boy" illustrates that while apologies are important, they don't erase the scars left on others [2]. However, in this context, the focus must shift to your own internal state. You will know you have found peace when the heavy, constant weight of guilt begins to lift, and you can remember your mother with love rather than only with remorse. This internal peace, achieved through sincere repentance and self-forgiveness, is the true sign that you have been forgiven, both by her spirit and by yourself.

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, it is possible to know the karmic debt of a person, but only at the highest stage of spiritual development. According to Jain philosophy, the soul is inherently capable of knowing everything, but its potentialities are obscured by the operation of Karma [1]. As a person begins to shed Karma through equanimity and spiritual practice, these potentialities become increasingly evident, allowing the soul to know more and more until it reaches the state of *Kewaljnän* (omniscience), where it knows everything [1]. At this Karmaless stage, the soul has full knowledge of all its past and present Karmas. However, for ordinary individuals, it is not possible to know exactly which Karmas will exert their effects or when they will mature. Some Karmas give an instant effect, while others take a long time or even many births to manifest [2]. The Karmas are divided into three categories: *Sanchit* (accumulated but not currently operative), *Vartamän* (present Karmas being acquired now), and *Uday* (operative Karmas that constitute destiny) [2]. While one can know the general principles of how Karma works—such as the eight main types of Karma and their 148 sub-divisions—the specific details of one's own karmic debt remain hidden until one attains omniscience [5].