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karma theory which has been discussed at length in it. Among the traditional scholars, the Jainas are credited with having taken a hylozoistic view of nature which means that there is nothing formed in the world of matter, that nothing exists in space and time, which is not some form of a living organism. And it takes us further to believe, as has been done by Darwin for contemporary science, that all these organisms are in a process of development or evolution in their physical structures, modes of generation, intake of food and drink, deportments, behaviour, action, thought, ideas, knowledge, intelligence and the like. The Jaina belief in the multiplicity of souls each one of which is endowed with a consciousness and is the master of his own actions, pious as well as impious, karma-acquiring as well as karma-exhausting, is unique in the sense that the soul has been accredited with, and recognised as, an active principle, and is not merely passive, as is presumed in some other Indian systems. Another unique thing about the Jaina belief is that in it, even though soul and matter transform and undergo change due to change in circumstances, both have an eternality because of which any idea of original creation or destruction is rendered completely nugatory. The Jaina system necessitates a careful consideration of the cosmical, biological, embryological, physical, mental and moral positions of the soul in all parts of the Sphere. This has been done in the Bhagavati Sūtra in an exhaustive manner.
The translation of the work has been a surprisingly pleasant experience for the translator. Three things that have, in particular, impressed him are its methodology, its terminology, and its illustrations. Its methodology is scientific in so far as the term would convey anything in ancient times. Illustrations of most difficult concepts have been taken from most commonplace things. For instance, the cohesion of soul and matter is illustrated by the example of a leaky bcat which is submerged at the bottom of water. When laboratory tests were unknown, such commonplace examples made even the most difficult concepts easy for understanding. The Bhagavat i Sūtra is rich in terminology a good part of which may be useful in the production of scientific treatises in the Indian languages.
