Illuminator of Jaina Tenets

Author(s): Tulsi Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 52

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Illuminator of Jaina Tenets
[ Lustre 1
२२. कालः समयादिः ।
. निमेषस्यासंख्येयतमो भागः समयः, कमलपत्रभेदाधुदाहरणलक्ष्यः । प्रादिशब्दात् प्रावलिकादयश्च । 345-7---
समयावलियमुहुत्ता, दिवसमहोरत्तपक्खमासा य । संवच्छरजुगपलिया, सागर प्रोसप्पि परियट्टा ॥
(aquer, 365, gāthā 103]. 22. kālaḥ samayādiḥ
nimeşayāsamkhyeyatamo bhāgaḥ samayah, kamalapatrabhedā-. dyudāharaṇalaksyaḥ. ādiśabdād āvalikādayaś ca." uktañ ca
samayāvaliyamuhuttā, divasamahorattapakkhamāsā ya/ samvaccharajugapaliyā, sāgara osappi pariyațţā//
(Anuyogadvāra, 365, verse 103) (Aph.) An instant and the like are called time. (XXII)
(Gloss) an instant is the innumerablth fraction of a twinkling (nimeşa) of the eye. It (in its minuteness) is to be inferred from such instances as the perforation of the petals of a lotus. It has been said:
A samaya (instant), avalikā, muhurta, divasa (day), ahorātra (day and night), pakșa (a fortnight), māsa (a month), samvatsara (a year), yuga (a cycle of twelve years), palya, sāgara, avasarpini, and pudgala-parāvartana are the traditional divisions of time. (Anuyogadvāra, 365, verse 103).
(Note) The real time-unit is different from the specious time-unit. It is, therefore, a matter of inference, though a span of time is perceptible.
Time is infinite by itself and consists of innumerable parts which are indivisible instants (samaya). Just as an extended body admits of division and the minimal part which repels division is called an atom, so also the atomic indivisible part of time is to be admitted for parity of reasoning.
Time as a philosophical concept and an ontological reality has been a centre of interminable controversy. This is one and at the same time many, and the combination of unity and plurality has been a puzzle to many a philosopher. Now time is a substance according to Jaina ontology. It must, therefore, be amenable to
1 The term samaya is translated here as instant. Samaya, being the smallest
indivisible quantum of time, can perhaps be appropriately called time-point.
Although immeasurably small and numerically inexpressible, it is a finite unit. 2 The minimum unit of time called samaya (instant) is inferable from the perfora
tion of a large number of petals of lotus placed one above another in a single stock by one stroke of a needle. It appears that all the petals are perforated at one time, but this is by its nature impossible. The successive perforation of the plurality of petals implies successive instants.