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116
Tattvarthasutra
[5.2-6]
Among the aforementioned five, the substances up to the sky are each one and are inactive. The five substances, including dharmastikaya, are eternal and are never detached from their general and specific forms. All five are also unchanging because there is no increase or decrease in their number; however, the formless substances are only the four: dharmastikaya, adharmastikaya, akashastikaya, and jivastikaya. Pudgala is not formless. In summary, both eternality and stability are common characteristics of all five substances, but formlessness is a common characteristic of the other four substances, excluding pudgala.
Question - What is the difference in meaning between eternality and stability?
Answer - Not being detached from one's general and specific form is eternality, and remaining stable in one's form while not attaining the form of another element is stability. Just as the jiva substance never abandons its material general form and conscious specific form, this is its eternality; and while not abandoning this form, it does not attain the form of the ajiva substance, which is its stability. In summary, not abandoning one's own form and not attaining another's form are these two characteristics (dharma) that are the same in all substances. The first aspect is called eternality and the second aspect is called stability. The assertion of the eternality of substances reveals the permanence of the world, and the assertion of their stability reveals their mutual non-interaction; that is, while all are changeable, they remain constant in their own forms, and while staying together, they are unaffected by one another's characteristics (attributes). Thus, this world is both without beginning and end, and the number of fundamental elements of the world remains constant.
Question - If dharmastikaya and other ajiva substances and elements are present, then some form must be acknowledged; why then are they called formless?
Answer - The term "formless" here does not imply a denial of form; indeed, dharmastikaya and the other elements do have some form. If they had no form, they would not qualify as objects, akin to a horse's hooves. Here, the mention of formlessness denotes the denial of materiality. Here, the form means an embodiment. Form, taste, smell, and touch collectively are referred to as an embodiment, which is absent in the four elements: dharmastikaya and others. This is what is conveyed by the term "formless."