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They believe in the Tattvarthasutra as eternal (Nitya). Some philosophies consider a certain substance to be momentary (only subject to production and destruction). Some philosophies consider the conscious element of existence to be purely eternal (kootastha nitya) and the element of nature to be result-oriented eternal (nityanitya). Some philosophies refer to certain substances among many as permanent, while others, like the body and clothing, are seen as merely subject to production and destruction (anitya). However, the Jain perspective on the nature of existence is different from all these views and is explained in this sutra.
The Jain belief is that what exists—substance—cannot be simply absolutely eternal, or merely transient, or that some part is absolutely eternal while another part is result-oriented eternal, or that some parts are eternal while others are merely transient. According to their philosophy, all substances, whether conscious or non-conscious, tangible or intangible, subtle or gross, are categorized as having three forms in terms of production, destruction, and stability.
Every substance has two aspects. One aspect is eternal across all three times, while the other aspect is ever transient. The eternal aspect causes every substance to be stable (dharuvyatmak), while the transient aspect causes it to be subject to production and destruction (asthir). From these two aspects, one can categorize philosophical schools into:
1. Baddha
2. Sankhya
3. Nyaya, Vaisheshika