The fourteen guṇasthānas
Fourteen stages from wrong belief to liberation, each with a duration the texts give, and a fork near the top where one ladder must fall and the other cannot.
A guṇasthāna is a station of the soul's qualities: how much of its Karma still binds it, and which. The first three are the ground — wrong belief, the taste of right belief on the way down, mixed belief. The climb begins at the fourth, right belief, and rises through vows partial and full to the eighth, where the two ladders begin.
The suppressors' ladder, the upaśama-śreṇī, holds delusion down and reaches the eleventh — from which the fall is certain. The destroyers' ladder, the kṣapaka-śreṇī, burns it out and reaches the twelfth, from which there is no fall, then omniscience at the thirteenth and stillness at the fourteenth, which lasts long enough to say five short vowels.
Almost every rung is held for an Antarmuhūrta. The exceptions are the ones that matter: the fourth can last thirty-three sāgaropama and a human life, the thirteenth a little under a koṭi of pūrvas. The durations are Hemacandra's, from the appendix to the Triṣaṣṭi; the atlas prints them as he gives them.
Measurements and counts
| Stages | 14 |
|---|---|
| The ground | 1–3 |
| The climb | 4–10 |
| The fork | 8 · ladders part at 10 |
| Must fall | 11 |
| Cannot fall | 12–14 |
| The last rung | five short vowels |
| Source | Hemacandra, Triṣaṣṭi appendix 1.3 |
Connected
10 · Sūkṣma-samparāya
Only subtle greed remains. Held for antarmuhūrta.
Only subtle greed remains, the last of the passions. The suppressors hold it down; the destroyers end it. From here the two ladders part: the suppressors to the eleventh, the destroyers to the twelfth.
Held for an antarmuhūrta.
| Rung | 10 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | suppressors only |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |
12 · Kṣīṇa-moha
Delusion destroyed. Held for antarmuhūrta.
Delusion destroyed. The destroyers' rung, and there is no fall from it. Here the soul finishes jñānāvaraṇa, darśanāvaraṇa and antarāya too, and the second śukladhyāna is practised.
Held for an antarmuhūrta, at whose end the four ghātiyā are gone.
| Rung | 12 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | no |
| Karmas still bound | 7 of 8 |
14 · Ayoga-kevalī
Omniscient, motionless. Held for five short vowels.
Omniscience without activity: even the finest movement of the body stilled. Seventy-two karmas end in the penultimate moment and thirteen in the last, and the fourth śukladhyāna lasts long enough to utter five short vowels — a, i, u, ṛ, ḷ.
Then the soul rises, without turning, to Siddhaśilā. That is Mokṣa.
| Rung | 14 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | five short vowels |
| Longest | five short vowels |
| Fall | no |
| Karmas still bound | 4 of 8 |
3 · Miśra
Mixed belief. Held for antarmuhūrta.
Belief and unbelief mixed, and neither able to move: no progress is made here. It lasts an antarmuhūrta, and from it the soul goes down to the first or up to the fourth.
| Rung | 3 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | to 1, or on to 4 |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |
6 · Pramatta-saṃyata
Full vows, with negligence. Held for antarmuhūrta.
Complete self-control, still subject to the five negligences — pride, sensual enjoyment, the passions, sleep and idle talk. The rung of the ordinary ascetic.
Held for an antarmuhūrta; if a negligence lasts longer than that, the soul falls.
| Rung | 6 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | yes |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |
7 · Apramatta-saṃyata
Full vows, without negligence. Held for antarmuhūrta.
The negligences gone; only the flickering passions and the quasi-passions remain. Dharmadhyāna is strong and śukladhyāna begins. Only the three bright leśyās are possible here.
Held for an antarmuhūrta, but a soul may pass between this rung and the sixth for up to a koṭi of pūrvas.
| Rung | 7 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | to 6 and back, for up to a koṭi of pūrvas |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |
8 · Apūrvakaraṇa
Unprecedented effort — the two ladders begin. Held for antarmuhūrta.
Unprecedented effort. Here the two ladders begin: the suppressors who hold conduct-delusion down and the destroyers who burn it out. The first part of śukladhyāna is fully developed.
Held for an antarmuhūrta. Only the suppressors can fall.
| Rung | 8 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | suppressors only |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |
9 · Anivṛtti-bādara
The gross passions thinned. Held for antarmuhūrta.
The gross passions thinned to nothing. The destroyers pass through nine divisions and end thirty-six sub-types of karma here.
Held for an antarmuhūrta.
| Rung | 9 of 14 |
|---|---|
| Shortest | antarmuhūrta |
| Longest | antarmuhūrta |
| Fall | suppressors only |
| Karmas still bound | 8 of 8 |