Scientific Contents in Prakrta Canons

SR No.: 001670
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1996
Total Pages: 608
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Science, & Religion
File Size: 9 MB

Page 84

62: Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
number of them represent the first few books of the Jaina ascetic duties and practices.
Jaina system is a polyrealistic one with a high spiritualistic bias. Consequently, its basic texts must deal with the phenomena of physical universe alongwith the spiritual kingdom. The traditional ascetics and scholars communicated mostly their spiritual contents and kept mum about their physical contents. The Table 5 a, b, suggests that most of the texts have about a fourth or more part dealing with this category of contents, either in separate chapters or stray or casual mention in different chapters. Some texts are fully devoted with this category. It was the practice of early scholars to sermonise analogically with the help of illustrations from the laymen's life. Hence a large amount of physical and observational contents could become part of these texts. It could be illustrated from Daśavaikālika containing more than one-third of its total contents dealing with the physical aspects :
(i) Şaq-jivanikāya -- Six types of living beings (Physics, Chemistry, Biology).
(ii) Pindaişaņā -- Science of food and its purity for mendicants.
(iii) Vākyaśuddhi — Science of speech.
Besides, there are analogical mentions of physical phenomena. Similar is the case with other texts. Physical or scientific contents of these texts could be collected, analysed and classified into the following branches of current sciences :
1. Physics - General properties of matter, Heat, Light, Sound, Electricity, Magnetism, Atomic energy, etc.
2. Chemistry — Atoms, aggregations, mixtures, molecules, compounds, properties and structures, Chemistry of living/non-living, Classifications, etc.
3. Botany - Science of plant kingdom-non-mobile beings.
4. Zoology - Science of insects, animals and humans, mobile living beings.