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636/Mo. Sa. Jivakanda
Gatha 565-567
- The sky is the one that gives space to all the beings in the world, and to the pudgalas, and to the remaining dharma, adharma, and kala dravyas.
"Prakashasyavagahaḥ ||18||" Giving space is the benefit of light.
Doubt: Beings and pudgalas are active by nature, so it is appropriate to give them space, but dharma and other dravyas are inactive and always connected, so how can they be avagahi?
Solution: No, because it is achieved by treatment. Just as even though it does not move, space is said to be omnipresent because it is found everywhere. Similarly, although the action of avagaha is not found in dharma and adharma dravyas, they are present everywhere in the lokaakasha, so it is treated as avagahi.
Doubt: If giving space is the nature of space, then vajra and other things do not get hurt from lodha and other things, and cows and other things do not get hurt from pitha and other things, but hurt is seen, from this it is known that giving space is not the nature of space?
Solution: This is not a fault, because vajra and lodha and other things are gross substances, so they get hurt in measure, therefore the ability of space to give space is not destroyed. Vajra and other things are gross substances, so they do not give space to each other, this is not a fault of space. Pudgalas that are subtle give space to each other.
Doubt: If this is the case, then giving space is not an extraordinary characteristic of space, because its presence is found in other substances as well?
Solution: No, because space dravya is the common cause of giving space to all substances, this is its extraordinary characteristic, so there is no fault.
Doubt: In alokaakasha, the nature of giving space is not found, from this it is known that this is not the nature of space?
Solution: No, no dravya abandons its nature.
Sha: This loka is infinite in extent. But in this loka there are infinite beings, and even more infinite pudgalas than them. The measures of the regions of lokaakasha are different kalānus, and there is one dharma and one adharma dravya, how do these fit into this loka?
1. Lattvarthamutra Adhyaya 5. 2. Sarvarth Siddhi 5/18.