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The Concept of Matter in Jaina Philosophy
white-nor-black is found in the mendicant-saints (samnyāsin), whose hindrances have dwindled away, and whose (actual). bodies are their last.”1
According to Dr. Zimmer, the six types of Leśyā, viz. kļşnaleśyā, nilaleśya, kāpotaleśyā, tejoleśyā, padmaleśyā and śuklaleśyā, each with its colour, smell, taste, and touch, "fall into three groups of two, each pair corresponding precisely to one of the three Guņas or natural qualities of the classic Sāṁkhya and Vedāntic writing”. “The Jaina Leśyā 1 and 2 are dark; they correspond to the Guna-tamas, “darkness". Leśyā 3 is smoky grey, while 4 is of red flame; both pertain to fire, and thus correspond to the Guņa-rajas (fire-rajas, red, colour; of rañj “to tinge red”, rakta “red”. Leśyā 5 and 6, finally are clear and luminous, being states of comparative purity, and thus are the Jaina counterparts of the classic Guna Sattva ; “virtue, goodness, excellence, clarity; ideal being; the supreme state of matter." "In sum, the six Jaina leśyās seem to represent some system of archaic prototypes from which the basic elements of the vastly influential later theory of the Gunas was evolved.")
1. The Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. XVII, p. 305. 2. Philosophies of India, pp. 229-230.
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