Indian Philosophy

Author(s): Sukhlal Sanghavi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 57

The Nature and the Cause of the World
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taste and touch belongs to these atoms and not to those. That is to say, originally all these capacities commonly belong to all the atoms whatsoever but depending on the difference of the available causal aggregate they assume different forms in different cases. Similarly, according to this tradition the aggregate coming into existence as a result of the combination of atoms is not an altogether new substance as it is on the Vaiseșika view; for according to it, this aggregate is but of the form of a specific formation or configuration of the concerned group of atoms themselves. Again, the Vaisesika tradition considers the atoms to be something eternal-undergoing no-change while it corroborates this character of their being thus eternal by supposing that the substances, qualities and actions which come into existence are something altogether different from these atoms; on the other hand, the Jaina tradition, not admitting such character of being something eternal-undergoing-no-change follows the Sankhya custom of positing the character of being something eternal-undergoing-change. And it explains the character of being something eternal-undergoing-change by supposing that even while the atoms taken individually are something eternal the ag. gregates and qualities--cum-action originating in them are somehow diffe. rent and also somehow non-different from these atoms.11
Just as the Sankhya tradition accounts for the multifariousness visible in this gross and subtle world on the basis of a differently proportioned commixture of the guņas pertaining to the same single originating Prakrti and the capacity-for-transformation inherent in this Prakrti, similarly the Jaina tradition accounts for the totality of gross and subtle world on the basis of the capacity-for-transformation inherent in a huge infinity of atoms and the various conjunctions and disjunctions experienced by these atoms, A large variety of different views as to the nature of atoms are current in the Vaišeșika and Jaina traditions. However, we will complete our account of this latter line of thinking after taking note of just one noteworthy point of difference obtaining between the two. This point of difference pertains to the size or dimension of an atom. Thus while the Vaiseșika tradition stops by treating as ultimate atom the one-sixth part of the dust-particle visible in the sun's rays entering the interior of a room the Jaina tradition considers even such an atom to be an aggregate made up of a huge infinity of atoms and further submits that within the same spatial unit as is occupied by one single atom there can reside not only a huge infinity of such atoms but also a huge infinity of such atomic aggregates. Thus viewed
11 See Tattvārtha chapter 5, aphorisms 4, 10, 11, 23-8. For a special consideration of
pudgala ( = matter) see Sthânănga-Samavāyānga (Gujarati translation published by Gujarat Vidyapitha ) p. 531 and Lokaprakasa Volume 1, chapter 11.