UPSC Civil Services 2013 Prelims General Studies Paper I

The surest way of annihilating Karma is to practice penance. Karma is the bane of the soul and must be ended.
“Swadhyay Paramam Tap” According to Jain doctrines Penance washes away all the blemishes and purges the soul of all karmic matter.
Also, according to Jainism, Karma is the bane of the soul. Karma not only encompasses the causality of transmigration but it is also conceived as an extremely subtle matter which infiltrates the soul, obscuring its natural, transparent, pure qualities. Karma is thought of as a kind of pollution that taints the soul with various colors. Based on its karma, a soul undergoes transmigration and reincarnation in various states of existence like heavens or hells or as humans or animals.