ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

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where the other four auspicious events (kalyānakas) of the tirthamkaras took place etc. There are a number of them, which are frequented by Jains as a part of their spiritual and religious activity.
RELEVANCE OF JAINISM TODAY Science in Jainism: It is amazing to see how Mahāvīra could visualize the structure of the universe from micro to macro levels without the aid of any modern day instruments. Some examples are given to support this:
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Periodic table in science show the number of basic elements found to date to be 102 (now gone up to 118). The table also shows some blank positions and the possibility of more basic elements existent but not found till now. Jains talk of a possibility of 4(8/2 touch)*5(colors)*5(taste)*2(odors) = 200 possible elements in which paramānus or subatoms can combine to give different elements. Water should be boiled and strained before drinking. Absence of this shows over 4000 persons dying every day by taking impure water. Mahāvīra's principle of satjīvanikāya talks of air / water / fire / earth and plant bodied living beings and the living beings with moving bodies. It is extremely useful to analyze and propagate basis and essentiality of environmental protection practices. Concept of paramāņus being the smallest indivisible part of matter of Jains as established by Bohr in his atomic theory. Matter emits light (Sir CV Raman), Sound is matter (Galileo and Newton) and plants have life (JC Bose) are the principles, which have been accepted by scientific research so far. Detailed description of matter as skandha (lump/compound or mixture), paramānus is indeed getting established by scientific research now. Similarly we find a number of other concerns proved by science about the constituents of universe. The properties of matter such as ability of many atoms to co-exist in the same space point, conversion of matter into energy etc as given in Jain texts have been proved by scientific discoveries.
Similarly there are a number of significant factors concerning cosmos, matter besides the soul as experienced and preached by omniscient lords and can be verified through scientific experiments.
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0