International Jain Conference 1985 3rd Conference

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

Page 97

less pit? To answer these questions, very elaborate and expensive experiments were performed in U. S. A. as a result of which the number of new particles emerging from nucleus has increased fantastically. By 1962, their number had been counted upto one hundred. Some of their names are neutrons, protons, pions, positrons, muons, electrons, neutrinos and their anti-particles such as anti-protons. and so on. Millions of photographs were taken and even those particles were recorded which lived for as small a period as one-ten billionth of a second-10-11 second and then died but the Quark remains undiscovered. We congratulate the scientists for their hard perserverence and uneasing labor. If some day, the Quark is discovered, it will be the atom of the Jains and the volume occupied by it will be the unit of space, the space point or Pradesa.
The space has two varieties; Lokakasha and Alokakasha. The constituent elements of the world are the infinite number of Jivas and the infinite number of the physical objects, principles of motion and rest and time-all contained in space-the sixth. The space which is coextensive with these objects is called Lokakasha. But this is only a part of the real space. Beyond this, there is Alokakasha or Anantakasha. This is pure space. There are no objects animate or inanimate in this infinite region.
For measurement of celestial space, two units are in use. They are Yojana and Rajju corresponding to miles and light years. In order to evaluate the magnitude of Yojana, we consider the following table of length in Vedic literature:
24 Angulal Hasta 18 inches
4 Hasta 1 Danda or Dhanus 6 feet
2000 Dhanus1 Kosa-12000 ft or 25/11 miles
4 Kosa 1 Yojana-100/11 miles or 9 miles 160 yds.
This value is further corroborated from a Sukta of Rigveda, according to which light travels at the rate of 2202 yojanas per half Nimesha. As per Hindu Puranas,
15 Nimesas 1 Kastha
30 Kastha 1 Kala
30 Kala 1 Muhurta or 48 minutes.
Thus the value of one Nimesa comes to be 1/4 second.
Taking the value of Yojana as 100/11 miles and half Nimesa as 1/4 second, the velocity of light comes to be 1,87,770 miles per second. This is the same value as arrived at by modern science.
In order to calculate the value of Rajju in miles, we begin with the quotation given by the German Professor Von Glassnap in his famous book "Der Janismus"
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