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INTRODUCTION
This volume contains the last three prarūpaņā, namely Antara, Bbāva and Alpa-bahutva, out of the eight prarūpanās of which the first five have been dealt with in the previous volumes. The Antara prarūpani contains 397 Sūtras and deals with the minimum and maximom periods of time for which the continuity of a single soul (eka jiva ) or souls in the aggregate ( nānā jīva ) in any particular spiritual stage (Guņa-sthāna ) or soul-quest ( Mārgará-sthāna ) might be interrupted. It is, thus, a necessary counterpart of Kala prarūpayā which, as we have already seen, devotes itself to the study of similar periods of time for which continuity in any particular state could uninterruptedly be maintained. The standard periods of time are, therefore, the same as in the previous prarūpaņā. The first Guņasthāna is never interrapted from the point of view of souls in the aggregate i, e. there is no time when there inight be no souls in this Gunasthāna-some souls will always be at this spiritual stage. But a single soul might deviate from this stage for a minimum period of less than 48 minutes (Antaramuhūrta ) or for a maximum period of slightly less than 132 Sāgaropamas. The second Guņasthāna may claim no souls for a minimum period of one instant ( eka samaya ) or for a maximum period of an innumerable fraction of a palyopama, while a single soul might deviate from it in the minimum for an innumerable fraction of a palyopama and at the maximum for slightly less than an Ardha-pudgala-parivartana. And so on with regard to all the rest of the Gunasthānas and the Mārgaņāstbānas. The commentator has explained at length how these periods are obtained by changes of attitude and transformations of life of the souls.
The Bhāva prarūpaņā, in 93 Sūtras, deals with the mental dispositions which characterise each Gunasthāna and Marganästhāna, There are five such dispositions of which four arise from the Karmas heading for fruition ( udaya ) or pacification ( upaśama ) or destruction ( kshaya ) or partly destruction and partly pacification ( kshayopaśama),
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