Answer

In Jain Dharma, a complete and accurate narrative of āśrava, bandha, saṃvara, nirjarā, and moksha cannot be given without karma, because these five concepts are directly about the soul’s relationship with karma.

However, for simple understanding, we can explain them using a non-technical analogy first, while remembering that their actual Jain meaning is karmic.

Explanation

Think of the soul as naturally pure, peaceful, and full of knowledge.

When the soul becomes careless, passionate, attached, angry, greedy, or deluded, it opens itself to impurity.

• Āśrava means inflow — the entry of harmful influences into the soul’s condition.
• Bandha means bondage — those influences become tied to the soul because of attachment and passions.
• Saṃvara means stoppage — the soul stops new inflow through right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, self-restraint, carefulness, and awareness.
• Nirjarā means shedding — previously accumulated bondage is removed through austerity, repentance, meditation, equanimity, and spiritual discipline.
• Moksha means liberation — the soul becomes completely free and manifests its pure nature fully.

So, as a simple narrative:

• The soul turns outward and becomes disturbed — this is āśrava.
• The disturbance takes hold — this is bandha.
• The soul becomes alert and stops further disturbance — this is saṃvara.
• The soul purifies what was already accumulated — this is nirjarā.
• The soul becomes completely free — this is moksha.

Spiritual Understanding

This non-technical explanation is useful as an analogy, but Jain Dharma does not treat these as merely psychological states. Traditionally:

• Āśrava is the inflow of karma.
• Bandha is the bondage of karma with the soul.
• Saṃvara is the stoppage of new karma.
• Nirjarā is the shedding of bound karma.
• Moksha is complete freedom from all karma.

Without karma, these terms lose their precise Jain meaning.

Takeaway

You can explain them without mentioning karma as a beginner-friendly analogy, but in authentic Jain philosophy, āśrava, bandha, saṃvara, nirjarā, and moksha are inseparable from the doctrine of karma.