Compendium of Jainism

Author(s): T K Tukol, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Prasaranga Karnatak University Dharwar

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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
The Christians hold the view that the universe is God's creation. This finds free expression in their simple prayer: "O Lord, thou that did'st make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in there." To Jesus, God was “Lord of heaven and earth” and also “one who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust”. It is his Heavenly Father that feeds the birds and clothes the fields with grass. "In Him” says St. Paul,” we live and move, and have our being.” So according to the Christian view, God is the Creator of the universe and of everything that is found on it.
The Muslim account of creation of the Universe as found in the Quran seems to have been founded upon the story in the Genesis. God or Allah is believed to have created the earth in two days, placed the mountains which tower above it; he blessed and distributed the nourishment in four days for the cravings of all alike; he completed the creation of the heavens in two days.
Jaina Cosmology regards the universe as comprising six substances which are technically called dravyas. It is real and consists of Jiva (soul) and Ajīva (non-soul). The world is dynamic and not static. It is ever changing, subject to modifications or decay. The principles underlying the concept are real and scientific. The theories in physics have been undergoing changes since the days of Newton. The thinking in that field has undergone such remarkable changes that an average thinker feels baffled by intricacies of the theory of relativity. That theory has revolutionized the fundamental concepts of mass, time and space. It has provided a new key for perception of the mysteries of the universe.
While the Jaina Ācāryas have divided the substances into broad categories of Jiva and Ajiva, or living and non-living, they have further divided Ajiva into five categories : pudgala, dharma, adharma, ākāśa, käla.