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GENERAL PROPERTIES OF GREEN PLANT CELLS AND THE STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS OF A SEED PLANT AS FOUND IN THE JAINA AGAMIC WORKS
Dr. J. C. SIKDAR* It appears from the study of plant life as explained by the Jainā. cāryas that the green plants are the primary producers of the living world. The properties of the pigment that gives them their green colour, i.e. chlorophyll, enable them to utilize the radiant energy of sunlight to synthesize energy-rich compounds, such as, liquid substance (siņeha)” from water and airs (carbon dioxide). The process of photosynthesis is the only significant way in which energye (teja) from the sun is made available for life on this earth.
Land plants absorb the water required for the photosynthetic process through their roots; aquatic plants receive it by diffusion from
* L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. 1. Sūtrakstanga II. 3.43, etc.
Bhagavati Sūtra, 7.3.275, Uttaradhyayana Sutra 36.92-99 ff. Pannavanā Sutta, Vanaspatikāyajiva pannavanā 35-54.5.
Lokaprakāśa I, 5th Sarga, Vanaspati, Vinayavijayaji. 2. “Te jīvā... ... ...pudhaviņam siņehamāhāremte te jivā āhāremti
pudhavisariram ausariram teusariram vāyusariram vanassaisariras, etc. 1"
Sūtrakstānga II. 3.43. 3. Ibid. (āusariram...... vāyusariram). 4. Ibid. (teusariram). 5. Mülam syāt bhūmisambaddhan tatra kandah samāśritah /
Tatra skandha iti mitho bijāntah syuryutaḥ same //107|| Ataḥ prthvigatarasa māhāranti same apyami/ Yāvat phalam puşpastham bijam phalasamgatarn //1081/
Lokaprakāśa I, Sarga 5, v. 107-8, Vinayavijayaji. See Bhagavati Sūtra 7.3.276. 6. Nânāvihajoniesu udaesu rukkhattāe viuttati, te jivá tesim nänāvihajoņiyāņam udagāṇam sinehamāhāresti, etc. /"
Sūtrakstänga II, 3.55,
Lakan
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