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CHART Entities or Life forms in the Universe
JIVA (Life)
AJIVA (Non-life)
Worldly Living elements Like humans, Animals, plants
Liberated (Those who have attained salvation) (Nirvana)
Mobile (Tras)
Immobile (Sthavar) One sensed like: 1) Earth bodies ( qedCTU) 2) Air bodies (aryhty ) 3) Water bodies (Trachtu ) 4) Fire bodies (diante ) 5) Vegetations (Trryfachru )
2 sensed
3 4 5 sensed sensed sensed
The other five are inanimate (ajivastikaya) (non-soul) viz. Pudgal (matter) Dharma (motion), Adharma (rest), Akasha (space) and Kala (time). Jain concept of universality is that the elements of nature - the earth, the sky, the air, the water and the fire as well as forms of life are all bound to each other. Life cannot exist without mutual support and respect.
To be human being is a gift in the evolution of life as it enables him to bring out his humanity towards other fellow living beings and the natural elements thereby achieve oneness with all life. It is human being alone endowed with all the six senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching and thinking, who can utilize his rationality and power of reasoning (viveka) to be compassionate, loving, friendly, forgiving, tolerant and broad minded to the universe around him.
Far from being dogmatic, Jain religion has a well-defined and clearly articulated scientific base, which elucidates interrelated
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner * (225)
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