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SŪTRA 16
dharma and adharma are not active forces but passive media." The same idea in Rajavartika is expressed as follows:
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उभयानुग्रहात्परस्परप्रतिबन्ध इति चेन्न, स्वतः परिणामसामर्थ्यस्यानुग्रहाकांक्षित्वात् कुण्टनयनयष्टिप्रदीपवत् ।।
Just as a lame possesses the power of walking or an eye possesses the power of seeing, but the former requires the aid of a crutch or the latter needs light in order to see, so does the motion and rest of bodies need the help of the invisible media, dharma and adharma.
We have shown in the commentary on Sutra 1 that the Aether of the scientists is the inactive medium, corresponding to dharma dravya, which helps in the motion of things, while adharma is another invisible medium, called the Field, through which the forces of gravitation and electro-magnetism operate, and maintain the stability of the microscopic as well as of the macroscopic world. The phenomenon of gravitation, as explained by Einstein is a passive property, wrongly associated with Space. (see page 29 ante) We give below a few more quotations to show that the scientists do recognize a separate medium for the 'rest' of the bodies
"The gravitational constant is independent of the nature of masses. The same researches proved that the gravitational constant is independent of the state of chemical combination of the elements in the masses. The fact that an element radioactive has also been shown to have no effect on the gravitational constant. Eotvois and his collaborators and also Majorana, Austin and Thwing have investigated the effect of interposing layers of different media between attracting and attracted bodies. Very dense media, such as lead and mercury, were used. No effect could be detected."
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The gravitational constant represents the action of the medium on the phenomenon of gravitation and since the medium is non-material, invisible, and passive we see that its properties do not change whether we bring mercury or lead between attracting bodies or bring out any physical or chemical change in the surrounding things.
229. Properties of Matter by Champion and Davy p. 43.
