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________________ Some Strange Notions in Jaina Cosmology Dr. Sajjan Singh Lishk* 1. Notion about the shape of the earth Man everywhere had been continuously striving for a formulation of concepts which will permit description of the real world around in mathematical terms. Consequently any such scientific persuits rendered the development of some wonderous types of cosmological and cosmographical notions among all ancient nations. Ancient Greek intellectuals had developed certain peculiar notions. The earth was supposed to be cake-shaped by Anaximander (611-546 B. C.) and to be surrounded by a sphere of air outside wbich there was a sphere of fire. Pythagoreans supposed the universe to consist of separate concentric spheres of crystal which respectively carried along by their rotation Moon, Sun, each of five planets and the whole body of fixed stars; and these spheres in their rapid motion emitted a music to be perceived only by those of the most exalted faculties. Anaxagoras (C. 500-428 BC) of Klazomenae believed that the Sun was a mass of blazing metal as big as Greece and the other heavenly bodies are alike masses of rock. It is also said that Anaximander (611-546 B. C.) of Miletus had suggested about 550 B. C. that men lived on the surface of a cylinder that was curved north and south. Egyptians believed that the earth was rectangular like their country. The cosmic view-points most popular among the Japanese intellectuals at the beginning of Tokugawa regime (Sixteenth Century A. D.) were the Confucian Ten'en-Chib-o-ron i.e. the theory that heaven is round and the earth is square. This theory was upheld by Japanese people even upto the middle of seventeenth century A. D. According to the Chinese view-points, the earth is square and the heaven is like a hen's egg and the earth in it is like the yoke. Similar notions were also prevalent among Vedic people. According to Rigveda (X. 89) the earth was regarded circular like a wheel and also according to some other verses of Rigveda (III. 55) m the earth has the shape of a bowl and also the beaven has an alike one, the two great bowls being face to face with each other. Likewise Jainas had also a different cosmological scheme and believed that the earth was made *Dr. S. S. Lishk reported some results in his public lecture at JVB Ladnun (Sept. 1977) under the presidentship of Acharya Tulsi and some results in his public lecture at Unjha (June, 1978) under the presidentship of Panyasa Abhaya Sagar Ji. 1. Taylor, F. (1940). A Short History of Science, pp. 34-35. 2. Asimov, I. (1971). The Universe, p. 5. 3. Vaucouleurs, G. D. (1957). Discovery of the Universe. 2nd ed. p. 18. 4. Hirose, Hideo (1964). The European Influence upon Japanese Astronomy. Reprint from "Acceptance of Western Cultures in Japan from the Sixteenth to Mid-Nineteenth century" pp. 61-80 5. Jaggi, O. P. (1969). Dawn of Indian Sciences. Vol. 2. p. 47. 6. Ibid. p. 43. jana prAcya vidyAe~
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________________ up of a series of flat concentric ocean rings. The central island of the earth was called Jambudvipa (an isle of Jambu tree) and the mount Meru was placed at its centrel Jainas might have perceived that mandalas (diurnal circles) of the Sun are almost concentric. Consequently they perceived the mount Meru placed at the common centre of these circles such that the Sun and the Moon etc. moved in their diurnal circles round the mount Meru3. The increasing diameters of mandalas (diurnal circles projected over the surface of the earth) of the Sun on its southern journey and vice versa were measured along the surface of the earth; 65 solar mandalas are stretched over 180 Yojanas4 in Jambudvipa and 119 solar mandalas over 330 Yojanas in salt ocean. Probably because of the strong impact of circularity of solar mandalas, Jainas might have been led to conceive that they lived on a circular land mass surrounded by salt ocean. Consequently they might have further envisaged as if the earth was made up of circular land masses alternatively surrounded by ocean rings. This invariably implies the concept of flat earth. It is worthy of note that Aristotle (384-322 B. C.) put forward the idea that the earth was not flat But the Greek philosopher, Philolaus of Tarenturm (480-? B. C.) is also said to have first suggested about 450 B. C. that the earth was a sphere. Notion of spherical earth has not been at all found in Jaina canonical literature whose present recension is traditionally ascribed to the council of Valabhi which met during the reign of Dharuvasena I (Ca. A. D. 519-549). It is, however, worthy of note that Jajna Monk Abhay Sagar has very logically argued that the earth cannot be a sphere. His inferences are based on archacological and geographical evidences, e.g. the earth distance in one latitudinal degree goes on increasing as one moves from the equator towards south pole where it should not have been so had the earth been a sphere. Even modern space observation has also led us to conclude that the earth is not spherical but oval-shaped.' In Sthapanga Sutra, third anga (limb) of Jaina Canon of sacred literature, as Jaina Monk Nathmal12 has 1. Bose, D. M., Sen, S. N. and Subrayappa, B. V. (1971). A Concise History of Science in India, p. 80. 2. For more details about tbe concept of mandala, see our paper Notion of Declination Implied in the Concept of Mandala (Diurnal Circle) in Jaina School of Astronomy. See also Lishk, S. S. (1978) Mathematical Analysis of Post-Vedanga Pre-Siddhantic Data in Jaina Astronomy. Ph. D. Thesis. Library, Panjabi University, Patiala. 3. For more details about the concept of mount Meru, see our paper 'Notion of Obliquity of Ecliptic Implied in the Concept of the Mount Meru in Jambudvipa Prajnapti-Jaina Journal, Vol. 12 No. 3. pp. 79-92. See also Singhal. B. M., Sharma, S. D. and Lishk, S.S. Concept of Mount Meru in Ancient Indian Geography (To appear). 4. For length-units, see our paper. 'Length Units in Jaina Astronomy'. Jaina Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 143-154. See also our paper 'The Evolution of Measures in Jaina Astronomy' Tirthankar, Vol. 1 Nos. 7-12. pp. 83-92. 5. Nicolson, Lain (1970). Astronomy, p. 10. 6. Asimov, I. Op. cit. p. 7. 7. For more details, see our paper. 'Sources of Jaina Astronomy' The Jaina Antiquary, Vol. 29. No. 1-2 pp. 19-32. Sagar, Abhaya (a Jaina monk): (i) What others say and a questionnaire. 1 he Earth Rotation Research Series, No. 1. (Mehsana). (ii) Vijnanavada Vimarsah (in Sanskrit). The Earth Rotation Research Series No. 2, (Mehsana). (iii) Bhugola Bhrama Bhanjani (in Sanskrit-Gujarati). The Earth Rotation Research Series, No.16. 9. Ramanathan, A. N. (1978) Is the Earth Pear-Shaped ? Science Today, Oct. issue. pp. 24-48. 10. See ref No. 13. 11. Private discussion with Yuvacarya AcAryaratna zrI dezabhaSaNa jI mahArAja abhinandana grantha
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________________ pointed out that the shape of earth is like Jhallari (an earthern pot for cooking pulse) which is somewhat neas the oval shaped body. Our researches are in progress and very interesting results are expected in future. 2. Theory of two Suns and two Moons The notion of counter bodies existed in several civilizations. Chinese had imagined from ancient times the existence of a 'Counter-Jupiter' which moved round diametrically opposite to the planet itself ; Greeks had also a parallel to this in the strange pythagorean theory of the counter earth apparently due to Philolaus of Tarentum (480-? B. C.), which was devised either to bring the number of planets upto a perfect number ten or to explain lunar eclipses. Jainas had also a peculiar theory of two Suns, two Moons and two sets of Naksatras (asterisms) which were assumed to move in circles parallel to earth's surface round the mount Meru It is worthy of note that because of notion of flatness of earth, Jainas could not solve the mystery of the theory of two Suns and two Moons etc. Jambudvipa (an isle of Jambu tree) is divided into four quarters and four directions. As the Sun should make the day in succession of the regions south, west, north and east of Meru, Sun's diurnal orbit is also divided into four quarters; the same Sun making day over Bharatavarsa in the southern quarter cannot reappear on the following morning as it still has three quarters to travel. To obviate this difficulty, the theory supposes two Suns, Bharata and Airavata, separated from each other by half the orbit, to describe the whole orbit. This theory is quite confusing these days, but it certainly depicts peculiar thinking of Jaina scholars. L. C. Jain opines that the mystery of the real and counter bodies existent in the Jaina Prakrit texts, China and Greece have not yet been unearthed, although it has been a theory for certain calculations. In the light of fore-going discussion it may be contemplated that Jainas might have not necessarily believed in the actual existence of two Suns etc. For mathematical calculations, only one Sun, One Moon and one set of naksatras suffice. But this theory had served their purposes like those of tentative astronomical model of cosmos. This theory fairly worked over many centuries together for solving the practical problems Jainas encountered in formulizing the description of the real world around. More researches are being made in this direction and it is envisaged that since the actual length of a solar year does not exactly correspond to an integral number of solar mandalas (diurnal circles), therefore the Sun on completion of its southern journey does not begin its northern journey at the beginning of a solar mandala ; in other terms as the northern journey of the Sun does not commence at the time of sunrise as the southern journey of the Sun does, so there is a phase difference in southern and northern journeys of the Sun. To obviate this difficulty, it appears that the same Sun was called by two different names--Bharata and Airavata-in different contexts respectively. More researches are still in progress in this direction. 3. The Theory that the Moon is 80 Yajanas higher than the Sun According to Surya Prajnapti5 (S. P. 18) it is stated that. 'The lowest star moves at a height of 790 Yojapas above the most plane portion of the earth. The Sun moves at a height of 800 Yajanas. The Moon moves at a height of 880 Yojanas. The uppermost star moves at a height of 900 Yojanas.' Mahaprajna Muni Nathmal, follower of Jaina Achrya Tulsi, leader of the Tera sect. See also our paper "Shape of the Earth in Jaina Cosmography" (in press). 1. Needham, J. and Wang, L. (1959). Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 3, p. 228. 2. See ref. No. 7. 3. Jain, L. C. (1975) Kinematics of the Sun and the Moon in Tiloya Pannatti, Tulsi Pragya, Vol. I No. 1, pp. 60-67. 4. Surva Prajnapti. Sanskrit and English commentaries are in progress under the supervision of principal Investigator Dr. S.D. Sharma, Reader in Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala, Sponsored by Vardhamana Kendra, Ahmedabad. Surya Prajnapti (ESP) Sanskrit commentary by Malaya Giri. Hindi translation by Amolak Rishi. The SP is the 5th upanga of Jaina canonical literature. For more details, See ref. No. 13. jaina prAcya bidyAeM
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________________ Other explicit references are 1. Jivabhigama Sutral (=JS).3.68.11 2. Jambudvipa Prajnapti? (=JP).10.6 Evidently the Moon is stated to be 80 Yojanas higher than the Sun. Dixit advocates in his Bharatiya Jyotisa Sasira that no stars are visible during day time when the Sun shines, but on the other hand, the Moon moves among the stars at night. Hence it was but natural for the people to believe that because the stars are higher than the Sun and the Moon moves in their region, so the Moon is also higher than the Sun. Nemichandra Sastri4 also agrees with this hypothesis. The Siddhantic astronomers were not attracted to solve the mystery of this peculiar potion. As a matter of fact, we have to delve deep into the secrets of Jaina astronomical system so as to comprehend the concept of height in its true perspective. It was conventional to measure celestial north south angular distances in terms of corresponding distances over the surface of ihe earth. Here the distances of astral bodies have been measured from plane portion of the earth (Samatala Bhumi, a technical term in Jaina astronomy). Height of the Sun is always 800 Yojanas above Samatala Bhumi. This suggests that Samatala Bhumi denotes an area bounded by the locus of a point that remains always at a distance of 800 Yojanas from the Sun's apparent path, the ecliptic, and the plane of Samatala Bhumi is parallel to the plane of ecliptic. Therefore the centre of Samatala Bhumi lies at ihe projection of pole of ecliptic, over the surface of the earth. It may be noted that the lunar orbit is inclined to the plane of ecliptic. When the Moon lies at its ascending or descending node, its height above Samatala Bhumi is the same as that of the Sun ; however, the Moon on its journey from descending node to ascending node remains higher than the Sun with respect to Samatala Bhumi Thus it appears that the concept of height of the Moon over that of the Sun above Samatala Bhumi implies a notion of maximum celestial latitude of the Moon. Therefore, it is evident that the concept of the word 'height' has to be properly understood in the given context. Such a view has also been expressed in Madanpal's commentary on Surya Siddhanta.Such an idea of north or south position of the Moon relative to that of the Sun is also found in Goladipika8 (2.31-32). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. The JS is the third upanga of Jaina canonical literature. For more details, see ref. No. 13. The JP is the sixth upanga of Jaina canonical literature. For more details, see ref. No. 13. Dixit, S. B. Bharatiya Jyotisa Sastra. Vol. I Part-1 Eng. Tr. by R. V. Vaidya, (1969), p. 6. Shastri, N. C (1973). Bharatiya Jyotisa (in (Hindi) pp 45-46. Lishk, S.S. and Sharma, S. D. (1974). Post-Vedanga Pre-Siddhantic Indian Astronomy. Paper presented at Summer School on History of Science (INSA New Delhi). To appear in K. C. Shastri Memorial Volume (Jabalpur). For more details, see our paper Latitude of Moon as Determined in Jaina Astronomy. Shramana, Vol. 27, No 2, pp. 28-35. Private correspondence with Dr. KS. Shukla, Professor and Head, Department of Mathematics and Astronomy, Lucknow University, Lucknow. The Goladipika by Paramesvara. Edited with introduction, translation and notes by K. V. Sharma, Adyar Library Pamphlet Series No. 32. Acknowledgement: The authors are grateful to Prof. L. C Jain and Dr. K. S. Shukla for helpful discussions and valuable suggestions. Thanks are also due to Rev. Munishree Abhay Sagar Ji for his active interest in preparation of this work and Vardhamana Kendra, Ahmedabad, for financial support. 8. AcAryaratna zrI dezabhUSaNa jI mahArAja abhinandana grantha