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The Concept of Matter in Jaina Philosophy
according to the Nyāya-Vaišeșikal and Jaina2 concepts of Matter. The Buddhist philosophy calls the Universe rūpātmaka (material). Rūpa does not connote only the meaning 'perception' to the eye, but it calls all the bhūtabhautikatattvas (primary and secondary elements of matter) by this term which can be apprehended by the sense-perception. Like the NyāyaVaišesika and Jaina schools of thought the Buddhist philosophy also, keeping in view the perceptible gross matter, material effects like 'taste, etc., as prominent, was engaged in the consideration of its cause. It has also admitted the doctrine of similarity in the postulation of causality (kāryakāraṇa), i. e. as there is an effect, so there is a cause. If the material effect is perceptible to the senses of taste, etc., then its fine, finer and finest (i. e. intangible) ultimate cause also is as such, that is to say, it can be only as rūpa (colour and shape), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), sparśa (touch), etc.
According to this consideration, the Buddhist philosophy has made a reference to all gross and fine elements of matter of the universe by using the word “Rūpa'. But there is a gulf of difference between the Buddhist concept of Rüpa and the Nyāya-Vaišesika and Jaina concepts of Rūpa. The Buddhist tradition also is anu-paramānuvādin (advocate atomism) like the Nyāya-Vaišeșika and Jaina systems of thought. Nevertheless, its postulation of the concept of Matter appears to be distinct from Prakstivāda of the Sāṁkhya on the one hand and the doctrine of enternal and infinite ultimate atoms (anantaparamāņavāda) of the Nyāya-Vaiseșika and Saina schools of thought on the other.
The Buddhist philosophy is the advocate of manifoldness (or multiplicity) of elements of matter, but it does not admit the conception of permanence of any entity. It advocates that 1. Āśritatvaṁ cānyatra nityadravyebhyaḥ anāśritatvānityatve
cānyatra avayavidravyebhyaḥ--PPBha,
Dravyadharanāprakaraña. 2. Nityāvasthitānyarūpāņi- TS., V. 3;
Rūpiņaḥ pudgalāḥ- Ibid., V.4.
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