sutra 2.12

क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः ॥ २.१२ ॥

kleśamūlaḥ karmāśayo dṛṣṭādṛṣṭajanmavedanīyaḥ || 2.12 ||

kleśamūlaḥ = the root of the obstacles

karmāśaya = the accumulation of the residues of the vicissitudes of our experiences 

dṛṣṭa = seen, visible

adṛṣṭa = and unseen, invisible 

janma = existence

vedanīyaḥ = which will be made known

The root of our obstacles is in our actions and intentions, which have consequences, some that can be seen now, others that will be revealed in future births.

The leading word in this aphorism is karmāśaya. Formed of karma “works” and āśaya “virtue and vice,” it implies the results which follow from the performances of works. The word āśaya has been accepted in aphorism 24, chapter I, to be the equivalent of vāsanā and saṃskāra, and for the sake of concordance, and in accordance with the commentators, I render it here in that sense, inasmuch as the results do not manifest immediately, but remain latent to even a second or subsequent life in the form of residua.

Source: The University of Sydney: A study of the Twelve Reflections

Janman (जन्मन्) refers to an “existence”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “[This self] whose intention is confounded by the poison of manifestly false knowledge, desire and so forth falls into an existence that is difficult to endure (janman-durgama), inflamed by the fire of endless suffering”.

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Karmāśaya (कर्माशय).—receptacle or accumulation of (good and evil) acts

Unaware and fearful of death,

you mistake the mind for the Self

and rage when you do not get your way. The ego bristles. You forge ahead,

intending to shake off your story and

leave it in the dust,

but it tags along behind you

from lifetime to lifetime. Learn what you came to learn

or your story will greet you like a shadow, attaching itself to you

every time you step into the sunlight.

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