Basic Principles Of Jainism

Author(s): Narayan Lal Kachhara
Publisher: Narayan Lal Kachhara

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The fine one-sensed souls cannot be known by our senses. They penetrate all matter and are everywhere in the universe. They do not obstruct other nor are they are obstructed by others.
Vanaspati (Nigoda) or vegetable kingdom has a vast variety of beings: plants, trees, shrubs, grass, vegetable crops of different varieties, garlic, onion, fruits, flowers, etc. Sir J.C. Bose has shown by his experiments that the plants have life and capacity of experience. Recent experiments have disclosed that music has a healthy effect on the growth of plants and crops. All the varieties of Nigoda beings which are visible to us are gross. The fine ones are everywhere in the universe and are invisible. They are different from water-bodied or fire-bodied or earth - bodied souls. There are vegetables which have one body and one soul called pratyeka sarira. There are also vegetables which have one body with many souls called sadharana sarira. They are immobile as they do not possess the inherent capacity to move.
The two-sensed beings e.g. worms, oysters, conches, leeches, etc. possess the senses of touch and smell. The three-sensed beings possess the senses of touch, smell and sight. The examples of it are bugs, lice, ants, and month. The beings which have four senses of taste, smell, sight and hearing are bees, flies, and mosquitoes, etc.
The five-sensed beings are divided into three classes: those that live in water like the fish, crocodile, whale etc: those that live on earth like the cows, elephants, buffaloes, and those that live in air like birds, bat, etc.
Human beings are divided in two categories: those who are fully developed and those who are not fully developed. It is only those who are mentally and physically developed that can develop all the inherent potentialities of the self and aspire for release from the cycle of birth. The human beings are endowed with the mind whose function is to find out the means of attaining the good and avoid the evil. Those with a mind are also known as Samjni Jivas.
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