Cosmology Old and New

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

Page 38

COSMOLOGY: OLD AND NEW
scriptures lies in the fact that the usage of committing to paper was unknown in days of old, the knowledge being transmitted from the teacher to the pupil or from the father to the son orally. The earliest written Digambara Jain works are those of Kundakundācārya (about 100 A.D.) about which it is sometimes said that, although based on the word of Lord Mahāvira, it is not the śruta literature of his times. The śruta literature was organized and written down by Svetam bar saints in the fifth century A.D.
We have referred above to the discovery of atomic nature of matter by Democritus. His views may be summarized as follows:21
1. Matter is discrete, not a continuum.“
2. All substances are formed of solid atoms which are separated from one another by void space. Each atom is a distinct individual.
3. The atoms are impenetrable, indivisible, and indestructible. They are as perfect as fresh today as when the world was new.
4. The atoms differ from one another in shape, size and weight.
5. There is a finite number of different kinds of atoms, but an infinite number of homoemetric (of like shape) atoms of each kind. 23
6. The properties of all substances depend upon the nature of the constituent atoms and the way the atoms are arranged.
7. The atoms are in constant motion.
8. Combination or aggregation is due to the coalescence of moving particles. 24
The name of John Dalton (1766-1844) is closely associated with the development of Atomic Theory of Matter in Europe. He was an English chemist, who in 1803 definitely declared that a gas such as air, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., was composed of discrete particles which were in rapid movement and that the size of the particles was small compared to their distances apart.
21. Quoted from Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry by J. W. Mellor. 22. cf. 34: FEFFETTO (Tattvartha-sutra, 5.25)
(Matter is in the form of atoms and molecules.) 23. cf. eurieure TITIGII (Tattvartha-sutra, 5.10.) 24. cf. cena 3140 (Tattvartha-sutra, 5.26)