Sramana 2006 04

SR No.: 525058
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi
Publication Year: 2006
Total Pages: 226
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Sramana, & India
File Size: 9 MB

Page 92

The Jaina Concept of 'Ahimsa' and the Modern World : 85
Physics. You could say that God (or Nature) is a mathematician.] Theory of Evolution
The evidence for 'evolution' is overwhelming, though there are still several grey areas ('missing link', exact times of origin or 'bifurcation' of several species, etc). Starting with 'single-called' organisms, invertebrates, vertebrates, etc., human beings evolved from 'lower forms'. In the beginning, earth's atmosphere did not have sufficient oxygen to support vertebrates. Several species (such as dinosaurs) disappeared, and many have also come into existence. [Evolution implies that the progression of living beings has been from 'lower' to 'higher' life-forms. Most of the major religions postulate just the opposite, e.g., that 'man' has been 'regressing' from a 'higher' plane to a 'lower' plane.]
Living being (जीव)
Since ancient times, attempts have been made to define 'life' through the 'obvious' properties. For example, the following properties have been used for severai centuries: "A living being is one which
(a) has a finite life (i.e., is 'born' and 'dies')
(b) 'eats' (needs 'food')
(c) 'grows' in the presence of food and 'dies' in the absence of food
(d) 'breathes' ('transpires', (श्वास, उच्छ्वास, निःश्वास)
(e) 'reproduces' (creates another 'smaller' entity like itself) (f) 'moves' (is capable of movement by itself)
However, this was not satisfactory: a perennial exception was 'fire'. Item (f) was removed by those civilizations which regarded plants/trees as 'living beings'. Is it necessary that sense organs (f) exist in 'living beings'?
Jaina religion regards plants etc. as 'living beings' and forbids 'violence' against them. How then will one eat? This is managed