I’ll break your question into parts and keep it fully within Jain siddhānt.

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1. What is “śubh nikachit karma”?

Nikachit karma

• “Nikachit” means: once it is bound and then starts giving result, it cannot be avoided, reduced, or delayed by any means.
• Its rise must be experienced; there is no way around it – only patience and equanimity (sāmāyik bhāv) can be practiced while it ripens.

Śubh nikachit karma

• We usually hear nikachit with a painful sense (duḥkh-karmas).
• But Jain karma theory says: nikachit can be either śubh (auspicious) or aśubh (inauspicious).
• When very intense, pure, and steady śubh bhāv occurs, a very strong, fixed-result punya can be bound. That is called śubh nikachit karma.
• For a future Tīrthankar, Tīrthankar-nāma-karma and some related karmas are of this extremely strong, practically unshakeable type.

So, a soul “destined to become a Tīrthankar” is a soul that has already bound such very strong śubh karmas (especially Tīrthankar-nāma-karma) in some previous life.

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2. How does a future Tīrthankar bind this śubh nikachit karma?

a) The special karma: Tīrthankar-nāma-karma

• All āgams and śāstras agree:

A Tīrthankar is a kevalī who has additionally bound a special nāma-karma called Tīrthankar-nāma-karma.

• This karma:

- Decides that in a later human life, the soul will be born with all the greatness, body, environment, and powers needed to be a Tīrthankar. - Is bound in a previous life (often said to be the second-last or some earlier main life, depending on the text).

Both Digambar and Śvetāmbara accept the principle of Tīrthankar-nāma-karma, though the detailed stories, previous births and lists may vary slightly.

You can read a simple explanation about how Mahavīr Swāmī bound Tīrthankar-nāma-karma here:

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b) Inner feelings (bhāv) of a future Tīrthankar

The bhāv is the real key. Texts describe the future Tīrthankar’s heart as:

1. Ati-uttam karuṇā (supreme compassion)

- Deep, constant feeling: “Countless jīvas are wandering in saṃsār and suffering; may I become an instrument to show them the path out.” - This is not ordinary pity; it is joined with vītarāgya (non-attachment), not with worldly attachment.

1. Desire only for sarva-jīva-kalyāṇ, not for personal greatness

- No wish like “I want fame, I want to be called Tīrthankar”. - Only: “May the true dharma be established; may countless jīvas gain samyak-darśan and mokṣa.”

1. Very pure conduct (śīl) and strong tapa

- Extraordinary charity (dān), forgiveness (kṣamā), humility (vinay), restraint (saṃyam), and austerities (tapa). - But all this with zero ego; not “I am great”, but “Even this is very little compared to the infinite purity of the soul.”

1. Special dharma-prabhāvanā (spread of true dharma)

- Supporting śramaṇs, scriptures, temples, preaching of right view, etc., - doing this only as service to dharma, not for name and recognition.

1. Equanimity in extreme situations

- Even when insulted, hurt, or facing loss, the soul remains in kṣamā – mārdava – ārjava (forgiveness–softness–straightforwardness). - This steadiness makes the śubh bhāv extremely intense and uninterrupted, so the bound karma becomes nikachit-level strong.

Because of such rare, very pure, and very steady bhāv, the soul binds:

• Tīrthankar-nāma-karma
• Along with certain other high gotra and body-decorating karmas.

This is what you are calling “śubh nikachit karma” in the context of a future Tīrthankar.

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3. What exactly are the “feelings” when that karma is bound?

Putting it in simple, inner-language:

• No “I, me, mine” feeling.

Instead: - “Let all beings be free from suffering.” - “Let the true path be available again.”

• No anger or hatred even towards the cruelest beings.

- At most, there is karuṇā (compassion) and upśam (inner calm).

• Joy in others’ spiritual progress.

- When someone improves even a little, there is anant-ānand (immense joy).

• Deep faith in tattvas (7 or 9 fundamentals) and strong niścay for mokṣa.
• Unshakeable resolve: whatever suffering comes, “I will not leave dharma.”

This kind of bhāv is what binds the special Tīrthankar-making karma.

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4. Why do many souls go to moksha as kevalis, and only some as Tīrthankar-kevalis?

a) Common part: what is needed for any moksha?

To attain mokṣa, a soul must:

1. Destroy all ghāti karmas first:

- jñānāvaraṇīya (knowledge-obscuring) - darśanāvaraṇīya (perception-obscuring) - mohanīya (deluding) - antarāya (obstructing) When these are fully destroyed, the soul becomes kevalī (omniscient arihant).

1. Then, at the time of nirvāṇa, destroy all aghāti karmas:

- nāma (body-determining), - gotra (status), - āyuṣya (life-span), - vedanīya (feeling-producing).

After this, the soul becomes a siddha.

> For mokṣa itself, Tīrthankar-nāma-karma is not necessary. > Any kevalī who finishes all karmas becomes a siddha.

So:

• All Tīrthankars are kevalis.
• But not all kevalis are Tīrthankars.

Many souls reach keval-jñān and then mokṣa without ever having bound Tīrthankar-nāma-karma.

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b) What is extra in a Tīrthankar-kevalī?

A Tīrthankar-kevalī has:

1. The same internal purity as any kevalī:

- Infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, power; - Complete vītarāgya; - No raag-dveṣ (attachment-aversion).

1. Plus a special karmic role determined by Tīrthankar-nāma-karma:

- Birth in a royal or very high family, ideal body, extremely pure surroundings. - Samavasaraṇ is naturally formed when keval-jñān arises. - 24 (Digambar) or 34 (Śvetāmbara) atiśayas (extraordinary glories) like: - Three-tier samavasaraṇ where all beings understand deshnā in their own language, - No obstacles to their preaching, - Universal respect from devas, humans, and animals, etc. - They re-establish the tirtha: the fourfold saṅgh (sādhus, sādhvīs, śrāvaks, śrāvikās) and the full path of dharma adapted to that time-cycle.

So the difference is not in the final mokṣa (siddhahood is exactly the same for all), but in the role performed in the last life before becoming siddha.

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5. Why so few Tīrthankars but many kevalis?

1. Mokṣa is the natural right of every soul.

- Whenever any soul removes all karmas, it becomes a siddha. This is common and same for all.

1. Tīrthankar-hood is a very special additional karmic result.

- It requires: - Very pure and very intense and very steady śubh bhāv. - A unique combination of compassion + vītarāgya + dharma-prabhāvanā. - Specific spiritual observances (described as “20 special observances” for earning Tīrthankar-nāma-karma).

1. Time-cycle rule:

- In the present half-cycle (avasarpiṇī), only 24 such souls rise to Tīrthankar status in Bhārat Kṣetra. - Many, many more souls achieve keval-jñān and mokṣa as kevalis, not as Tīrthankars.

1. Purpose of Tīrthankar:

- Not “personal salvation” (that they would get anyway as a kevalī), - But to re-establish the ford (tirtha) for countless other souls. - So nature (through karma law) “selects” only those rare souls whose bhāv was fully focused on sarva-jīva-kalyāṇ and dharma-sthāpanā, not merely on their own mukti.

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6. Kevalī vs Tīrthankar-kevalī – clear comparison

Inside (spiritual state):

• Both:

- Have destroyed ghāti karmas. - Possess keval-jñān and keval-darśan. - Are fully vītarāg. - Will certainly attain mokṣa at the end of that very life.

Outside (role and effects):

| Aspect | Ordinary Kevalī | Tīrthankar-kevalī | |---------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------| | Special nāma-karma | No Tīrthankar-nāma-karma | Has Tīrthankar-nāma-karma | | Atiśayas (glories) | Limited, according to other karmas | Many special atiśayas (24 / 34) | | Samavasaraṇ | Not necessarily | Always; devas build it immediately | | Role for saṅgh | Great teacher, but smaller circle | Founder/re-organiser of entire fourfold saṅgh | | Importance in time-cycle | Spiritually same purity | Also “time-turning” role in reviving true dharma | | Worship after nirvāṇa | Respected, rarely the main focus | Main mūrtis in temples; center of all major pūjās |

Yet, in siddha-śilā, there is no difference at all between a siddha who was once a Tīrthankar and a siddha who was once “ordinary” kevalī. All are just pure souls, equal in infinite qualities.

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7. Digambar and Śvetāmbara – where they differ, where they agree

Agreements:

• The law of karma is automatic; Tīrthankars do not arbitrarily choose to be Tīrthankar.
• Tīrthankar-nāma-karma is a special nāma-karma bound by very high śubh bhāv.
• All Tīrthankars are kevalis; not all kevalis are Tīrthankars.
• Final mokṣa of all siddhas is identical.

Differences (mainly historical/narrative):

• Exact lists of previous lives of some Tīrthankars.
• Exact number and names of all kevalis in each time-period.
• Count and description of atiśayas (24 vs 34, etc.).
• Some details of rituals and stories (not affecting the basic doctrine above).

But in the principle you are asking about – “Why only some kevalis are Tīrthankar-kevalis?” and “How does that karma get bound?” – both traditions are essentially the same.

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In short

• A soul destined to become Tīrthankar binds very strong śubh (often nikachit-like) karmas, especially Tīrthankar-nāma-karma, through extremely pure, compassionate, ego-less bhāv and great tapas & dharma-prabhāvanā.
• Feelings at that time are: limitless compassion, vītarāgya, desire for sarva-jīva-kalyāṇ, not personal glory.
• Many souls attain keval-jñān and mokṣa as kevalis, because that is simply the natural fruition of complete karma-destruction.
• Only a very few become Tīrthankar-kevalis because Tīrthankar-hood is an extraordinary role requiring that special Tīrthankar-nāma-karma, bound by very rare and elevated bhāv.
• In final siddhahood, there is no difference between one who was Tīrthankar and one who was not – all are perfectly pure souls.