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3.1 Atomic theory Mah pragya has put the atomic theory in historical perspective. Indian philosopher Kannad and western philosopher Democritus are widely considered as the pioneers of particle theory. Democritus represented the era of 460-374 B.C. The evolution of Kannad's 'Vai e ika S tra' is considered to be around 1st century A.D. Whereas, the period of Lord Mah vra is 599- 527 B.C. His atomic theory precedes those of Kannad's and Democritus, but the historians of the philosophy have ignored this fact. The reason is neither the bias nor the discrimination; it is perhaps the unavailability of Jaina literature and lack of its serious study. Both Jain and Vai e ika philosophies agree to the fact that param-a u is indivisible. But they disagree about the adjectival attributes of the param-a u. In Jaina philosophy, all param-a u are identical as far as their physical form is concerned. But their classification is possible on the basis of quantum of various attributes (touch, taste, hue and odor) they possess as amalgam of paramanus. Since the extent of these attributes may vary from one unit to infinite units, Jainas believe that there are infinite such permutations and combinations possible. It must be observed that the atomic theory is just a part of whole theory of pudgala.
3.2 Spar a (touches) of Pudgala Classification of Pudgal is:
1. Param-a u or Dion As stated earlier, it is the smallest part of a pudgala which is further indivisible. These dions can possess two touches (sparsa) out of the basic; positive- negative (snigdha- ruksa) hot -cold (u a ta). Author has carefully christened them as 'dion' by their virtue of having two touches. Though these dions could be of infinite varieties depending upon the qualities they possess, however, they can be subcategorized in four broad types depending on which two touches they inherit out of the four available:
• Type 1 combination of positive and hot • Type 2 combination of positive and cold • Type 3 combination of negative and hot • Type 4 combination of negative and cold
It must be noted here that there is a restriction on having both the touches of same pair. Another important observation is that all four broad categories mentioned above have three attributes, namely taste, hue and odor. Infinite varieties of dions stem of the fact the quantity of the attributes in them may range from one unit to infinite units.
2. Bahu - Prade i Skandha or Quadons These pudgalas are one step higher in the hierarchy. Two or more dions combine to form '
multitouch clusters' typically named Bahu - Prade i Skandha in the Jaina literature. These clusters, now, can possess all the four touches thus as christened as quadons. These quadons, since are made up of multiple dions, have all the four touches, namely, positive- negative and hot- cold. Quadons could comprise a minimum of two up to a maximum of infinite dions. When there are infinite joining together, it is known as "anant prade i skandha". These quadons with infinite dions again come together to constitute an entity which is the first step of migration from micro towards macro level.
3. Anant - Anant Prade i Skandha or octons From this state onwards, the state of pudgala is such that it possesses eight touches - four primary ones, positive- negative and hot and cold, four secondary touches namely, light-heavy and soft - hard. Out of the four secondary touches, the former two are responsible for the constitution of mass of the octons. It thus turns out that the Jainas do not consider mass as the primary property of a pudgala, but it manifests only after the formation of octons from the relative quadons and dions.
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0
