Scientific Vision of Lord Mahavira

SR No.: 002011
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Chaitanyapragyashreeji
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 2005
Total Pages: 202
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Science, & Philosophy
File Size: 12 MB

Page 181

Conclusion
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doctrine of omniscience (kevalajñāna). The perfect knowledge of complete reality seems to be beyond reach for ordinary mortals; but it is a daily and spontaneous experience with the omniscient. The scientific knowledge, on the other hand, interprets the world in ascending (spiral) order of the degrees of truth and reality.
In the Jain doctrine of Logic and Epistemology one can find the exposition almost savagely logical. What the Jains have propounded much of it comes to be validated. The Jain theory of knowledge and reality are complimentary to each other. The theory of Pudgala (matter) has been espoused and made the core of Jain doctrine of reality. The 'to reality' approach and its corollary the doctrine of epistemology are well balanced. No where is there any contradiction between these two aspects according to Non-absolutism.
The knowledge of physics and philosophy presupposes an incisive insight into the nature of reality. This gives rise to the problem of unity and plurality. Jain Acaryas have looked upon nature as a system of interconnected events and believed that nothing existed outside this realm. In the words of the German scientist and philosopher the whole universe is one organic unity; as such, nothing lies outside the framework of this grand totality. We find in the absolute systems that the monstrous unity of all the parts of the existence are only postulates. For Hegal, singular parts are not abstract but concrete realities. There is no such thing as the parts torn away from the absolute, but the absolute cannot be thought of in absence of its parts.
Contrast to these views maintained by the absolutists like Bradley, Hegel, Heckle, the Jain non-absolutists emphatically deny the absolute separateness or absolute organic inseparableness. According to the Jain philosopher, the conflicting reals are complementary and supplementary to reality and the world is a systematic whole. It is not a motley crowd (disorganized group) of independent elements; the unity implies the expression of a single element in and through a complex web of constituents' differentiated unity. In a complete system every part has its own significance. The individual elements themselves are nothing but parts of an infinite complexity. The picture of Non-absolutism offers spectacle of unity in which each aspect of reality is in consonance with other aspects. They retain their individuality and persist through their inherent nature. True to their realistic, pluralistic and rationalistic position, the Jain Acharys have presented the theory of Non-absolutism built upon the doctrine of Pudgala. But the theory of Pudgala itself does not represent the total magnitude of Non-absolutism.