Jain Biology

SR No.: 006905
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 152
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 13 MB

Page 119

and thence they transmigrate (impelled by their karman) to the seed which brings forth the trees.
NATURE OF LIFE – SCIENTIFIC VIEW : A living organism is qualitatively distinct from the non-living matter, i.e., the differences between them are of kind rather than of degree. Functioning of the former is governed by some unique biological laws. The essence of a living organism is the set of principles determining the transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next.
The living organisms are composed of the same constituents as the rest of the Earth, but they possess, besides free will, which is the characteristic of life, all the following attributes:
Organisation, excitability, conductivity, contractility, metabolism, growth and reproduction. One or more of these, but not all may be possessed also by non-living matter.
In its composition, a living organism contains no special element but is mainly made up of 16 of the 92 elements that occur naturally on the Earth. Not only are these elements a very special set but they are combined together to make molecules more complicated than any other known in the universe.
A biogenesis or a spontaneous generation—theory that life, particularly micro-organisms, can originate from non-living matter-was not accepted by many scientists and was largely disproved by microbiological studies of Louis Pasteur. Chemical evolution, i.e., creation of chemicals of life such as nucleic acids before the appearance of life upon Earth is generally accepted.
The question as to whether the intricate phenomena of life could be explained in scientific terms, has produced two schools of thought-- Vitalism and Mechanism. Vitalists (Biologists) do not accept that living depends upon a non-material soul but they accept the presence of a vital essence, or force which is peculiar to living organisms and which is different from all other forces found outside of living things. This vital force is not explainable in terms of physico-chemical phenomena and
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JAIN BIOLOGY