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344 : Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
N. V., Mimāṁsaka School Jaina School
such mediums. They recoil from perfectly non-porous
mediums producing echoes. (ix) The sounds are produced The wave-motion mecha
through wave motion-like nism may lead to absence of mechanism.
motion everywhere. Wave motion mechanism can neither produce another single word nor many words. It indirectly proves motion of sounds. Space should have components in this mechanism. Words are produced or deformed by material bodies, due to vibration. They require medium for propagation.
The logic of table 4 also subscribes to the remark for Table 3. In addition, the Jainas have also refuted the wavelike transmission ideas of the Vaiseșika25. They travel by themselves as well as with the help of air in all directions. If they are quality of space, it should be all pervasive, inactive and imperceptible. It should either be always heard or not heard at all. The Jainas also find Buddhist conception of permanent momentariness of words as untenable.
It may be presumed that space exists between the earth and planets. Its all-pervasiveness may be equated to the atmosphere surrounding us. The air or other gases contained in it are responsible for propagation of sound. Thus, if one equates the space of canonical era to the present atmosphere, it becomes clear that there arise waves, like water, in space
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