Cosmology Old and New

Author(s): G R Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

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taken the publication of important works which shed light on the heritage of Mahavira. Numerous teachers, authors and dignitaries have enriched the cultural heritage of our country in which Jainism has a significant place. Jaina teachers have preached a way of living which has proved beneficial to many, here as well as elsewhere. What Jainism has stood for in the cultural history of our country deserves special study in its various aspects.
The Tattvärtha-sutra of Umäsväti or Umäsvāmi is an important Jaina text, almost unique in its character. It is written in Sanskrit, in the Sutra style and covers almost the entire range of Jaina doctrines. On the one hand, it has proved a focussing point of all that was available in earlier times and, on the other hand, it has been a rich source to be elaborated by numerous commentators during subsequent periods. It has got ten chapters. The first two chapters deal with the theory of knowledge and also elaborate the Jaina view of the animate world. Chapters three and four are devoted to Jaina cosmography. Chapter five is important inasmuch as it deals with the inanimate world, especially Ontology. Chapters six to ten are in a way ethical in contents and, incidentally, deal with the karman doctrine and the path to moksa, or liberation.
From the point of view of modern science, the fifth chapter has a special importance, because it deals with some of the concepts which have great relevance in the perspective of modern science. Naturally, years back, Prof. Ghasi Ram Jain, an eminent Professor of Physics, prepared an elaborate commentary on the 5th chapter of the Tattvartha-sutra, which was entitled as Cosmology: Old and New. It was published first as early as 1942. On the occasion of the Nirvana Mohatsava, he has revised, enlarged and brought up to date his earlier work in conformity with the researches made during the last three decades in the field of Science. This exposition will not only help us to understand Jaina Cosmoslogy in a clearer perspective but also in comparison with the results of the modern science. In Dr. G.R. Jain, we have a distinguished physicist who has kept himself up to date in his studies. His preface to the new edition clearly brings out his approach of science in comprehending reality and in the discovery of truth. He has also explained the need of such a comparative study to understand