Answer

In Jain Dharma, one cannot properly explain the 7 tattvas without discussing karma.

Karma is central to the understanding of the tattvas because several of the seven realities directly describe:

• how karma enters the soul,
• how karma binds to the soul,
• how that inflow is stopped,
• how accumulated karma is shed,
• and how the soul becomes liberated from karma.

Explanation

The 7 tattvas are:

• Jīva – soul
• Ajīva – non-soul
• Āsrava – inflow of karma
• Bandha – bondage of karma
• Saṃvara – stoppage of karmic inflow
• Nirjarā – shedding of karma
• Mokṣa – liberation from all karma

Out of these, Āsrava, Bandha, Saṃvara, Nirjarā, and Mokṣa are directly connected with karma. Even Jīva and Ajīva are important because karma itself is a form of subtle matter, and it binds with the soul.

So if karma is removed from the discussion, the narrative of the 7 tattvas becomes incomplete and loses its core meaning.

Spiritual Understanding

The 7 tattvas are not merely philosophical categories. They explain the soul’s entire spiritual journey:

• The soul exists.
• It is associated with non-soul substances, including karmic matter.
• Due to passions and activities, karma flows in.
• That karma binds the soul.
• Through right conduct and discipline, new karma is stopped.
• Through austerity and spiritual practice, old karma is shed.
• When all karma is destroyed, the soul attains moksha.

Therefore, karma is the connecting thread that makes the tattvas meaningful as a path of liberation.

Takeaway

A narrative of the 7 tattvas without karma is only partial. In Jain Dharma, the 7 tattvas are fundamentally a map of how the soul becomes bound by karma and how it becomes free from karma.