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Microcosmology : Atom Destruction of the preceding state gives way to the birth of the succeeding state.
Parināma, i.e. change is a universal quality of all substances including pudgala and it has been explained in different ways from different aspects in Jain scriptures. In Rājavārtikam it is said that pariņāma is mutation of a substance, natural or otherwise, without affecting its own fundamental identity.2 In order to make a distinction between pariņāma and kriya, Siddhasena Gani has defined parināma as mutation other than vibration etc.3
In the Tattvārtha Sūtra, Parināma is defined as the inherent nature and the corresponding activities i.e. the change in the character of attributes of each substance.4 This means that pariņāma and paryāya are almost synonymous. Thus mutation is not different from modification.
Referring to pudgala, five pariņāmas which are listed in the Bhagavati Sūtra are the main attributes of pudgala viz., varna (colour), rasa (taste), gandha (odour), sparsa (touch) and saṁsthāna (shape) which render the pudgala sensuous or cognizable by senses. Ten pariņāmas of pudgala are listed in Parnnavanā Sūtra. Five of the ten are the same as in the Bhagavati Sūtra and the rest are : bandha (association), bheda (disassociation), gati (motion), sabda (sound), and agurulaghu (masslessness), most of which have already been dealt with earlier.
Temporally parināma can be two-fold: (i) beginningless and (ii) with a beginning. Parināma of pudgala is always with a beginning. There are many varieties of pariņāmas (of pudgala) with a beginning.' 1."Avasthitas ya dravyas ya pūrva-dharma-nirvrtau dharmantarotpattih
pariņāmaḥ" (Commentary by Vyas). 2. Tat. Raj., 5-22-10. 3. Tat. Sūt. Siddhasena's Commentary, 5/41. 4. Tat. Sūt., 5.42: "Tadbhāvah pariņāmaḥ." 5. Bhag. Sūt., 8/10/467. 6. (a) Tat. Sūt., 5/42 :"...anādirādimāmsca."
(b) Tat. Rāj. 5/42. 7. Tat. Sūt., 5/43 : "Rupisvādimän." 8. Ibid., (Bhāsya), 5/43.
