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Scientific Secrets of Jainism
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3590-59-53" -Birth, Diksā, omniscience and nirvāņa of the sixteenth Tirthankara
Śrī śāntinātha 3590-59'-546-30"-Birth, Diksā, omniscience and nirvāṇa of the seventeenth Tirthankara
Śri Kunthunātha 3590-59-574-00"-Birth, Dikṣā, omniscience and nirvana of the eighteenth Tirthankara
Śri Aranātha and the nineteenth Tirthankara śri Mallinātha 359°-59-58-30"-Birth, Dikṣā, omniscience and nirvāņa of the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd,
24th Tirthankaras. 3590-59'-58-31" -Beginning the fifth ārā of 21000 years. 3590-59'-58"-40" -Origin, development and destruction of the modem science. 3590-59-59-30"-The end of the fifth ārā and the beginning of the sixth ārā. Disturbance
in atmosphere. Falling of the Sun's ultraviolet rays directly on the earth. Human beings and animals going underground and destruction
of plant life (kingdom). Extremely difficult circumstances of life. 360°-00-00--00*(0000-00-00--00')-The end of the sixth ārā and again beginning of
Utsarpiņikāla By comparing the two tables given above, one can see that the beginning of the evolutionary period of Darwin's theory marks the beginning of the first ārā of the Avasarpiņikāla part of the time-cycle of the Jain scriptures. The beginning of formation of the crust of the earth marks the beginning of the second ārā. The time of beginning of life and production of bacteria marks the beginning of the third ārā and the production of oxygen in the atmosphere marks the beginning of the fourth ārā of 1 x 10" Sāgarāpamas.
Modern science does not believe that life existed on the earth before the time mentioned above because the lowest of the layers of fossils and other fossils discovered during excavations of the earth belong to a time subsequent to the time mentioned above. Rocks (fossils) of earlier times are not discovered. The reasons for this can be given as under on the basis of the Jain scriptures, the Brhatsangrahani, the Kșētrasamasa, the Pravacanasārāddhāra etc.
The human life and life of beasts on the earth during the first, second and third ārās of Avasarpiņikāla were quite independent of each other. Men and women among human beings and males and females among animals were born as twins, became young together, enjoyed together and gave birth to pair of twin (yugala). They brought up the twins (yugala) for a few days and then
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