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Biology in Jaina Treatise on Reals
earth is the entity which has acquired the physique-making karma of earth body and is in transit with its karmic body but it has not yet acquired the earth as its embodiment.
Similar four varieties of water etc. should also be defined. Thus, we have- (i) water, dead embodied water, living embodied water and and would-be -living water (ii) fire, dead embodied fire, living embodied fire, would-be-living fire (iii) air, dead embodied air, living embodied air, would-be -living air and (iv) plants, dead embodied plants, living embodied plants, would-be living plants.
2.
The earth has been placed first in the aphorism because (a) it conveniently serves as a receptacle for (i) water through container pots (ii) fire through earthenware dishes (iii) air through leather bags (and plants through roots and shoots under and above it), (b) it is found in gross forms like houses, palaces, conveyances and coverings like fabrics etc. (c) it serves many useful functions for other entities. It helps the fire in baking, lightening and absorption (heating), etc. It helps the air to remove sweatings and exhaustion etc. It helps plants to produce foods, clothes and coverings. Whatever others and the abovesaid services for the water etc. are prescribed, they can take place only in the presence of the earth. How, otherwise, these services could be performed.
3.
The water has been placed after the earth as there is contrariety in the nature of earth and fire. The fire destroys everything. Hence, it is intervened by water. Secondly, the earth is also the substratum for water.
4. The fire has been placed next to water as it helps cooking and heating of earth and water.
5.
The air has been placed after the fire because it helps fire to function through its oblique-moving property.
6.
The plants are placed in the end because they grow with the help of all the earth, water etc. Morever, the plants are infinite times the number in comparison to all the others.
Thus, the above are the five types of non-mobile beings. How many vitalities (prāṇās) do these earth etc. possess?
Q.
A. They possess four vitalities- (i) sense-organ of touch (ii) bodily strength (iii) respiration and (iv) life-span.
Supplementary Notes
1.
The commentary deals with the following points:
(a) There are five kinds of non-mobile beings- earth, water, fire, air and plants. They are defined on the basis of internal and external physique-making karmic causes. Their conventional meaning does not carry the real meanings. (b) The canons indicate four varieties of each of them like (i) earth (ii) dead embodied earth (iii) living embodied earth and (iv) would-be -living earth. Out of them, the first two are non-living varieties while the last two are the
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