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750
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
space be infinite or not, and, if it turn out to be finite, to posit a second inter-space, and so forth, ad infinitum. But this is absurd, for one infinite Space is sufficient for the purpose of finding room for all things.
Space, then, is a substance which is infinite and nonatomistic, that is, partless. Its function is to find room for all things, though being of the nature of “place,” it does not stand in need of it itself.
The claim of space to rank as a reality is based upon its partless, non-atomistic nature, which preserves it in one condition always. Not being an effect, but only a simple substance in itself, it cannot be conceived to have been produced from other substances; and as such must be an ultimate reality, that is a thing in itself.
The infinity of Space, called ükåsla in Sanskrit, is divided by the Jaina siddhanta into two parts, namely, the lokākasha (loka + ákisha), the space occupied by the universe, and the alokäkasha (a, not, and lokâkâsha), the portion beyond the universe. The lokakasha is the portion in which are to be found the remaining five substances, i.e., jivas, Matter, Time, Dharma and Adharma; but the alokakâsha is the region of pure space containing no other substance, and lying stretched on all sides beyond the bounds of the three worlds (the entire universe), as shown in the map on p. 716 ante.
Space, thus, is a self-subsisting entity ; it cannot be created, or destroyed, by any process of regression, or progression. In its infinity of extension, it includes the universe of matter and form as well as that which lies beyond. It thus embraces the Loka and the Alokn both, and is uncreate and eternal, hence, a self-subsisting
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