Answer

In Jainism, karmas are classified mainly into 8 types. These karmas bind to the soul and affect its knowledge, perception, happiness, body, life-span, status, and spiritual progress.

The 8 main karmas are:

1. Jñānāvaraṇīya Karma – knowledge-obscuring karma
2. Darśanāvaraṇīya Karma – perception-obscuring karma
3. Mohanīya Karma – deluding karma
4. Antarāya Karma – obstructing karma
5. Vedanīya Karma – feeling-producing karma
6. Āyu Karma – life-span determining karma
7. Nāma Karma – body-making karma
8. Gotra Karma – status-determining karma

Explanation

1) Jñānāvaraṇīya Karma

This karma covers or blocks true knowledge.

Effect:

• Prevents the soul from knowing things clearly
• Causes ignorance, forgetfulness, confusion, or limited knowledge

Difference:

• It affects knowledge
• It is one of the ghātiya karmas because it directly harms the soul’s original qualities

---

2) Darśanāvaraṇīya Karma

This karma covers right perception or direct awareness.

Effect:

• Creates lack of proper perception
• Causes dullness, distraction, or inability to clearly “see” truth

Difference:

• It affects perception, not knowledge exactly
• Example: a person may see but not truly understand

---

3) Mohanīya Karma

This is the most dangerous karma in Jainism because it causes delusion.

Effect:

• Creates attachment and hatred
• Causes wrong belief, ego, anger, greed, deceit, and desire
• Makes the soul forget its true nature

Difference:

• It affects faith and conduct
• It is considered the strongest bondage karma because it keeps the soul trapped in worldly life

---

4) Antarāya Karma

This karma creates obstacles in spiritual and worldly effort.

Effect:

• Blocks charity
• Blocks gain
• Blocks enjoyment
• Blocks repeated enjoyment
• Blocks willpower or energy in doing good deeds

Difference:

• It does not hide knowledge or create delusion
• It simply prevents action or achievement

---

5) Vedanīya Karma

This karma gives the experience of pleasure or pain.

Effect:

• Produces physical or mental happiness
• Or produces suffering, pain, discomfort

Difference:

• It is an experience-giving karma
• It does not directly affect knowledge or perception, but gives the feeling of सुख or दुःख

---

6) Āyu Karma

This karma determines the lifespan of a being in a particular birth.

Effect:

• Decides how long one will live in a given life
• Fixes the duration of existence in that body and birth

Difference:

• It controls how long life lasts
• It is tied to the specific birth destination: human, animal, heavenly, hellish, etc.

---

7) Nāma Karma

This karma determines the body and physical features of a soul’s birth.

Effect:

• Decides body form
• Influences beauty, strength, height, voice, movement, and many bodily conditions

Difference:

• It shapes the structure and appearance of the body
• It does not decide the soul, but the physical form it gets

---

8) Gotra Karma

This karma determines social status, family status, or rank.

Effect:

• Gives high status or low status
• Creates respect, honour, or the opposite

Difference:

• It affects social position
• Traditionally divided into:

- Ucca Gotra – high status - Nīca Gotra – low status

---

Spiritual Understanding

Jainism teaches that not all karmas act the same way.

A simple difference:

• Some karmas cover the soul’s original qualities
• Some karmas create experiences in life
• Some karmas shape the body and birth

Another important classification:

A) Ghātiya Karmas

These harm the soul’s pure qualities directly:

• Jñānāvaraṇīya
• Darśanāvaraṇīya
• Mohanīya
• Antarāya

B) Aghātiya Karmas

These do not directly destroy the soul’s core powers, but still bind it to worldly life:

• Vedanīya
• Āyu
• Nāma
• Gotra

Why this matters:

The goal in Jain Dharma is not just good worldly life, but complete liberation of the soul. So one must reduce karmic bondage through:

• Right faith
• Right knowledge
• Right conduct
• Self-control
• Non-violence
• Compassion
• Austerity
• Meditation

Takeaway

In Jainism, the 8 karmas explain how the soul becomes bound and how it experiences life.

In one line:

• Some karmas hide the soul’s powers
• Some karmas give pleasure or pain
• Some karmas decide body, lifespan, and status

If you want, I can also make this into a simple chart/table or explain the 8 karmas with easy examples.