________________
Reality and Matter : Definition, Properties and Classification : 173
other. Thus, the property of colour is also associated with shape. While the Vaiseșikas mention only four or five types of shapes, the Jainas have upto eleven types with the Buddhas having eight types as shown in Table 15. Table 15 : Varieties of Shapes. System Number
Names 1. Vaišeșikas 4+1 Space point, Trigonal, Spherical,
Tetragonal, Flat. 2. Buddhas
Space point, Long, Short, Circular, Symmetrical, Non-symmetrical,
Raised, Flattened. 3. Jainas
Space point, Long, Circular, Trigonal, Tetragonal. Space point, Long, Short, Circular, Trigonal, Tetragonal, Hexagonal. Space point, Circular, Triangular, Rectangular, Symmetrical, Lower part symmetrical, Upper part symmetrical, Dwarf, Hunchbacked,
Irregular, Hexagonal. 4. Science 7 Cubic, Monoclinic, Triclinic, Trigonal,
Pyramidal, Prismic, Hexagonal. Geometrically, they include two or three dimensional units. The number of shapes by Jainas was five in the beginning which has developed upto eleven through six and seven. It is clear that this number is an advance over the other systems. However, the current scientists75 agree to only seven types of basic geometrical shapes – almost all with three dimensions. They do not include irregular shape as one of their varieties - it being taken as a mixed and undefined one. They also do not include dwarfs, hunchbacked etc. as their nature is not basic. The shapes by scientist contain the property of sym-. metry and a-symmetry. They have sub-classified them into 32 sub-classes too complex to be detailed here. However, the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
