In the Jain vision articulated by Mahavira, karma is not merely a moral ledger or an abstract principle of cause and effect, but an extremely subtle form of matter that actually adheres to the soul (jīva). This karmic substance obscures the soul’s innate qualities of infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy, weighing it down and binding it to the cycle of birth and death. Every vibration of mind, speech, and body, especially when charged with attachment (rāga), aversion (dveṣa), or the deeper passions such as anger, pride, deceit, and greed, becomes an opening through which karmic particles flow toward and fasten onto the soul. Thus, karma is both a metaphysical explanation of bondage and a precise moral psychology that links inner states to spiritual consequences. Mahavira offered a detailed account of how this bondage unfolds and how it can be reversed. The influx of karmic matter is called āsrava, and when these particles actually bind to the soul, it is termed bandha; later, they come to fruition (udaya), producing experiences of pleasure and pain, capacities and limitations, conditions of birth and status. Karma was explained as of two broad kinds: ghātiyā (destructive), which directly veil the soul’s essential attributes, and aghātiyā (non‑destructive), which shape worldly embodiment, lifespan, social position, and the like. Liberation (mokṣa) becomes possible only when the inflow of new karma is stopped (saṃvara) and the already‑bound karma is shed (nirjarā), until no karmic matter remains to weigh the soul down. To guide beings toward this purification, Mahavira framed an exacting path of discipline and insight. The Three Jewels—Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct—form the core orientation that aligns the practitioner with reality as it is, including the truths of soul and karma. Right Conduct is further articulated through the great vows of non‑violence, truthfulness, non‑stealing, celibacy, and non‑possession for ascetics, with corresponding limited vows for lay followers, all designed to calm the inner disturbances that attract karma. Ahimsa, non‑violence in thought, word, and deed, is especially central, since harm to any living being, however small, becomes a potent cause of new bondage. In this way, ethics is not merely social guidance but a kind of spiritual technology for sealing the channels of karmic influx. Mahavira also emphasized the active removal of accumulated karma through austerities (tapas), meditation, repentance, humility, service, scriptural study, and deepening detachment. These practices intensify nirjarā, allowing karmic matter to “fall away” more