Astronomy and Cosmology

Author(s): L C Jain
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharti Sansthan Jaipur

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the Siddhantic period of Indian astronomical atmosphere and continued through Ptolemy (c. 150 A. D.), Aryabhaţa First (c. 498 A. D.), Copernicus (c. 1500 A. D.), Galileo (c. 1600 A. D.), Newton (c. 1680 A. D.), Einstein (c. 1925 A. D.), Eddington (c. 1925 A. D.) and many other Indian and foreign scholars and scientists. Sometimes the scientists had to pay very dearly for telling the truth. Regarding the solar system, Copernicus was the first western scientist who declared in very clear terms his assertion, "We therefore assert that the centre of the earth, carrying the moon's path, passes in a great orbit among the other planets in an annual revolution round the sun; that near the sun is the centre of the universe and that whereas the sun is at rest, any apparent motion of the sun can be better explained by motion of earth.' Galileo, practical had to scientist accepted the Copernican theory and pay dearly through his trial, insult and imprisonment. Einstein theory of gravitation resulted in two types of universes; Einstein's closed spherical universe containing matter but no motion and the other the de Sitter universe But as containing motion but no matter. we know, the actual visible universe contains both matter and motion, According to Eddington, the universe is expanding till one comes to a de Sitter's universe (motion but no matter) while according to Hoyle, the concept of universe involves a continuous creation of matter, otherwise due to the condensation of the background material into galaxies, a dead state of universe may occur in future. Thus even during the modern advanced scientific age, the scientists are not unanimous in their theories about the nature of the Universe.
According to the Jaina School, it has been made undoubtedly clear that there are six eternal fluents (dravyas), viz, bios (souls), puḍgala (puḍgala paramāņus or ultimate particles of matter), time particles (kālāņus), aether (dharma), anti-aether (adharma) and space (ākāśa); further the space has been divided into two types, viz, finite non-empty space), containing all the remaining five fluents) called Lokākāśa (universespace) and the infinite 'all-empty space' (containing nothing except the space itself,) called Alokākāśa (non-universe space). The Lokākāśa has a volume of 343 cubic rajjus (a measure developed and defined specially by the Jainas) and as mentioned above, accommodates all the remaining five fluents, viz, souls (jiva-bios), pudgala (matter), dharma (of cooperator motion), adharma (of cooperator rest) and kāla. It is situated in the very central portion of the endlessly endless (unfinite) space surrounded on all sides by the infinite Alokākāśa. Thus the Jainas have propounded the theory of two types of universe, viz., Lokākāśa containing both matter and motion and Alokākāśa containing none of them. Further the Jaina literature describes various
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