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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
certain limited period, the mediocre types exists for crores and multimillions of years and the highest types exist for innumerable years; but thereafter they are destroyed, rather disrupted into their component atoms. Such atoms re-unite and again the composite body (Skandha) is created. Thus reunion and disruption are repeated in a material body, and that is why the authors of the sacred scriptures have aptly termed them as 'Pudgala'.
If the atoms of a matter do not amalgamate, no commodity would come into being. All these-A pedestal, a seat, a book, a table and a wall-whatever you see-are formed by conjoining process of the atoms. Similarly big bodies are disintegrated into smaller ones, and the latter are further disrupted into still smaller ones and so on. Without this occurrence no change would be effected in any body. Then all bodies would remain unaltered. But we usually find things broken, spoilt shattered renovated and destroyed to small particles. This proves that bodies-atoms conjoin and disrupt themselves.
Here creation and destruction are to be interpreted with reference to creation and destruction of form or appearance. The basic matter is eternal permanent and unchangeable. It can neither be created nor destroyed. Misunderstanding in this connection very often leads to great deal of confusion and misinterpretation.
One gentleman perusing a title in a newspaper, running thus : 'A discovery of something new' approached us and inquired, “You did say that nothing is newly created. Then what is that we read in the newspaper" ?
We replied, "Gentleman ! you have not properly grasped the meaning of our statement. We hold that all matters of the universe remain the same in quantity. Never a new matter is generated and added as new, nor the same is diminished by destruction. They are six in number for ever. They change their phases---forms. When we find them in a new phase unprecedented, we call it a 'new' thing. The statement, "Columbus discovered America" does not mean that the said country did not pre-exist, and came into existence totally as a new country. The country did exist there even before millions of years but Columbus and his friends, were not aware of its existence and so they declared it a new country. On the
