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The Concept of Matter in Jaina Philosophy
an important light upon many problems of Indian philosophy and thought, and more particularly in the field of the physical sciences by revealing its various aspects, such as, conception of Reality-Substance, quality and mode (Dravya-gunaparyāya) and their inter-relation, nature of Reality, categories of Reality, concept of Matter, its elements, Indriyas (sense-organs), karma (Karmic matter) and leśya (condition of soul), and atomism, properties of Matter, its effects and modifications, and classification, atomic structure and properties of atom, transformation of Matter, its combination and value of the Jaina concept of Matter.
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The structure of the thesis on the subject 'Concept of Matter in Jaina Philosophy' has been divided into ten chapters. The first chapter deals with the concept of Matter with an introduction by throwing light on the Jaina conception of Reality-Dravya (substance), guna (quality) and paryaya (mode) and their inter-relation, nature of Reality and its categories in brief with a comparative study of these problems as treated in other Indian systems of thought and western philosophy, reve. aling similar views on them. With this background the topic has been discussed in the subsequent chapters in the light of the concept of Matter as embodied in other Indian metaphysics and the physical sciences as far as possible to explain and interpret the metaphysical and physical aspects of the Jaina concept of Matter in an approach to them by a comparative study of the whole problem.
The universe is a system of reals, all inter-related with one another from the points of view of dravya (substance), kṣetra (locus or field), kala (time) and bhava (condition) having a unity comprising the plurality of interdependent and interconnected substances. Dravya (Substance) means Reality characterized by Sat (existence), endowed with guna (quality) and paryaya (mode) and coupled with utpada (origination), vyaya (decay) and dhrauvya (permanence). The undivided whole of infinite qualities and modes only is conceived as Dravya (Substance), i.e. a collective whole of each individual
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