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OCTOBER, 1990
Perchance, this could be taken as included in mouth air though it is compositionally different. Of course, if the concept of prānas as substance is taken, respiration may include it.
Some properties of air find mention in canons. It has been said the air helps combustion while whirl-wind obstructs it.36 It is inhaled and exhaled by the body. Its material of molecular nature can be proved by its obstruction or subjugation.37 Bhagavati mentions its property of expansion and contraction. There are many types of micro-organisms in air. Their properties have come to science quite late in Pasteur's time.
Table 4 Various Types of Airs in Jaina Canons
Uttara- dhyayana
Mülācāra Prajñāpaņā Santi Suri Tattvārthasāra
8
Daśavaikālika
7
19
Fan air
Wind blowing
Wind blowing
Wind blowing
Wind blowing
Upwards Upwards Upwards Upwards Leaves air Downwards Downwards Downwards Downwards Air, breeze Whirlwind Whirlwind Whirlwind Whirlwind Air, cloths Singing air Singing air Singing air Singing air Air, hand Dense air Dense air Dense air Dense airAir, feather Breeze, Breeze Breeze Breeze Air, mouth pure air Rarefied air Rarefied air Rarefied air
Air from Air from
mouth mouth 9-16.
Air of 8 directions Stormy air
Air destructive 19.
Wind in waves
ili 111
17.
Though air is skandha, but there is no mention whether it is a mixture or compound. The canons contain meagre physical or chemical properties of it. It is now known that there are many gases besides air, some
** Kundakundacarya, op. cit., p. 442. 37 Jain, S. A., op. cit., p. 146.
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