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Water : With Life And Without Life: A Scientific View-point
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doubted that they produce a number of diseases in the body and such microorganisms always continue to be produced in water conaining lives. The micro-organisms cease to be produced in boiled water. We should, therefore, drink water after boiling it. Here it may be argued that it is not proper according to Jain philosophy to cause or to stop expansion of family of any person or animal. That is also fully sinful. Like one who only sees, we should see everything indifferently. It is not proper to involve oneself in any activity. What right, then, do we have to stop the expansion of somebody's family? For us all, the answer to this question is difficult. Boiling water is for us an activity of himsā i. e. violence, whether we boil it for ourselves or for others.
Therefore, the question stands as it was - Why should we drink water only after boiling it?' On the basis of modern scientific investigations, this question can be answered as under :
According to the principle of science, there are positively charged particles called cations and negatively charged particles called anions in every iquid and in the water of wells, ponds, rivers, rain etc. There is salt and a larger proportion of negatively charged particles. Water containing anions make the body very fresh. It sometimes produces excessive energy also. But when water is heated, it not only becomes lifeless, but also makes the negatively charged particles neutral i. e. devoid of elecric charge. Consequently, heated water does not produce bad mental or physical effects. Therefore, only heated water is proper for monks and nuns and for the laypersons who practise penance.
As a scientific evidence for this I would like to say that in America and other developed countries special apparatuses have recently come to the market for making the atmosphere of air-conditioned offices etc. free fr cations or filling it with negatively charged particles, anions i. e. for ionizing the atmosphere and they are in a great demand. The main reason for this is that in air-conditioned places, where cold wind is blowing, no heat is experienced at all. Yet workers sit there. they do not feel like working. There is physical and mental non-activity. Work is, therefore, not done as much as it is expected. It has been found on investigation that in air-conditioned atmosphere there is a greater proportion of cations. If their number is reduced and the proportion of anions is increased, the atmosphere becomes fres ing and energizing. On the basis of this research that the ionization appara
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