Jainism the Creed for All Times

SR No.: 006564
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D S Baya
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 2006
Total Pages: 420
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 127

objects that move through it nor does it urge them to move. It is eternal and its expanse is uninterrupted in the entire universal space comprising innumerable space units. Though the concept of a neutral medium of motion is unique to the Jaina thought and it is not found mentioned in any other religious philosophy, the modern scientific concept of dynamic inertia, which states that any object in a state of uniform motion will continue to move unless acted upon by an external force, comes closest to it. The Dharma-dravya can be compared to 'ether' in which everything, including the electromagnetic waves, moves. It must be noted that the expanse of the Dharma-dravya is only up to the universal space and, therefore, no motion is possible in the non-universal space outside the universal space.
Adharma Dravya (Medium Of Rest) -
The next category of non-living matter is Adharma or the medium of rest. It is defined as “an abstract neutral agency that supports the state of rest of the souls and the manifest matter in the space without urging those in motion to come to rest'. It has been compared to the shade of a tree that supports the rest of a traveller but does not urge to rest those that wish to move on. It only provides a neutral medium for such rest and it does not urge them to stop. It, too, is eternal and its expanse is also uninterrupted in the entire universai space comprising innumerable space units. Though the concept of a neutral medium of rest is also unique to the Jaina thought and it is also not found mentioned in any other religious philosophy, the modern scientific concept of static inertia, which states that any object in a state of rest will continue to stay in a state of rest unless acted upon by an external force, comes closest to it. It must be noted that the expanse of the Adharma-dravya is also only up to the universal space and, therefore, no parition for either the souls or the manifest matter is possible in the non-universal space outside the universal space.
TATTVĀRTHA (THE FUNDAMENTALS) : 99