Compendium of Jainism

SR No.: 001202
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: T K Tukol, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Prasaranga Karnatak University Dharwar
Publication Year: 1980
Total Pages: 352
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 17 MB

Page 111

JIVA OR THE THEORY OF SOUL
for its body; to put it in another way, it is the soul that lives in the earth body. The same is the case with water-bodied beings. Examples for the first type are quarry, diamond or coal in mine, stones, metals, vermilion, orpiment (or yellow mineral), etc., for the second type: water, dew, snow, fog; for the third type: flames, lightning, meteors, salamander etc.; for the fourth type: the tiny living creature we breathe in, 29 The fifth class is of the vegetable-souled kingdom, either individual-souled or host
souled.
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The fine one-sensed souls cannot be known by our senses. They penetrate all matter and are everywhere in the universe. They do not obstruct others nor are they obstructed by others. Some are born with a capacity to develop while others, not.
Vanaspati (Nigoda) or vegetable kingdom has a vast variety of beings plants, trees, shrubs, grass, vegetable crops of different varieties, garlic, onion, fruits, flowers, etc. Sir J. C. Bose has shown by his experiments that the plants have life and capacity of experience. Recent experiments have disclosed that music has a healthy effect on the growth of plants and crops. All the varieties of Nigoda beings which are visible to us are gross or it may be that Vanaspati is taken as a variety of Nigoda. The fine ones are everywhere in the universe and are invisible. They are different from water-bodied or fire-bodied or earth-bodied souls. There are vegetables which have one body and one soul. There are also vegetables which have one body with many souls. They are called Nitya-Nigoda. Most of the vegetable-kingdom is paryāpta as they are capable of development or growth with the availability of food, drink, etc. They are immobile as they do not possess the inherent capacity to move.
The two-sensed beings possess the senses of touch and smell. Worms, oysters, conches, leeches. The three-sensed beings possess the senses of touch, smell and sight. The examples of it are bugs, lice, ants, and moths. The beings which have four senses of taste, smell, sight and hearing are bees, flies, and mosquitoes.