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Verse 21 & 22
EXPLANATORY NOTES Ācārya Umasvami's Tattvārthasūtra
वर्तनापरिणामक्रियाः परत्वापरत्वे च कालस्य ॥
(5-22)
Assisting substances in their continuity of being (through gradual changes), in their modifications, in their movements and in their priority and non-priority in time, are the functions of time.
Acārya Pujyapada's Sarvārthasiddhi
The word Vartanāl (feminine gender) is derived from the root ‘vrtti' with the causal suffix ‘ņic' and the passive or abstract suffix ‘yut'. Causes to be continued, continues, or continuance alone is continuity of existence. Substances such as the medium of motion subsist by their own nature in attaining their modes. This is not possible without help from an external cause, which is the characteristic of time. Hence, assistance in the continuity of being (through gradual changes) is the function of (real) time. What is the meaning of the suffix ‘nic"? The mode of a substance subsists. Time is causal in this activity. If it were so, time would attain activity. For instance we say,
1 The distinction between vartanā and pariņāma is not likely to be
understood by those who are not acquainted with the Jaina conception of permanence in change or identity in difference. Changes take place in all substances, and yet the substances as substances are permanent. For instance, a piece of gold may be minted into a coin or made into a ring, and thus it undergoes changes. But the gold as such is permanent. Continuity through changes is the characteristic of all substances. Both vartanā and pariņāma mean changes. But vartanā refers to imperceptible, minute changes that go on incessantly every instant in all substances, whereas pariņāma refers to great changes which are perceptible to the senses and are called modes. See note on vartanā on the next page for further details.
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