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Panchastikayasara
29 more influential Indian system of philosophy, the Vedânta uses the term âkâśa indifferently to denote space and ether. It is the latter meaning that is more prominent. It is to the credit of the ancient Jaina, thinkers that they took a bold attempt to attack the problem and that with very great success. This fact is perhaps due to their special interest in mathematics. An adequate solution of the problem of space and time is intimately connected with mathematical philosophy. It is modern mathematics that has successfully reclaimed once again space and time from the destructive dialectic of the idealistic metaphysics. Space is indispensable to science and realistic metaphysics. The wonders of modern science are all associated with the reality of space and what is contained therein. Hence to "the Indian Realism" space cannot but be real, Akuša is infinite extension. It accommodates all other real existences. On account of this accommodating function it has a portion which is filled with the other real objects. This portion is called lokakâša, the world-space because it is co-extensive with the world or Loka. Beyond that, there is the infinite empty space which is suddha aranta ákäśa.
The interesting fact about this conception of space is the doctrine that space also is constituted by simple elements known as akášaņu or spacial point. This akášanu is to space what pudgala paramánu is to matter. And each ákûsaņu is related to each pudgalaņu. To borrow a convenient modern expression, the class of space points and the class of material points are "similar, having one to one relation."
The Jaina thinkers elaborately describe the nature of space, carefully distinguishing it from matter. It is devoid of the severai physical qualities and as such it is mere extension. It should not be confounded with extended objects.
Matter and space do not exhaust the physical conception. The Jaina
inker pertinently asks the question why the atoms should be kept together constituting the world of maha skandha ? Why should they not get dissipated throughout anantákāśa or infinite space ? Then there would be no world. The very fact that the structure of the world is permanent, that the viorid is a cosmos and not a chaos implies the existence of another principle which guarantees the permanency of the world's structure and the world form. This principle has the function of binding the flying ators to the world's centre. Its function then is distinctly inhibitive to arrest the i This physical principle is called adharma or rest. But if adharma alone were to function in the universe, there would be absolute rest and universal cosmic paralysis; hence the necessidy or a counteracting force called dharma. The function of this is to guarantee free movement for the objects that move of their own accord or otherwise. This principle of dharma or motion then is merely to relieve the universal inhibition that would otherwise result.
principles, dharma and adharma, of motion and rest are described in terms that are applicable to the modern conception of ether. Both dharma and adharma pervade through space up to the world limit. They are
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