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INTRODUCING JAINISM
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bandha-hetva bhāva-nirjarābhyām kệtsna-karmavipramokṣo mokṣaḥ//
"Complete release from all karmas through nonexistence of causes of bondage and through nirjarā is mokşa" (Jaini).
The five categories which are grouped in the ajīva class are distinctly non-spiritual and hence incapable of consciousness. They are, therefore, acetana. These are dharma, adharma, ākāsa, pudgala and kāla. The inherent character of dharma is to make move, or to be moved, while adharma is the opposite to it. The idea is that dharma and adharma are necessary conditions for the subsistence of all other things, viz, soul and matter. Akāsa is space, while pudgala is matter which is eternal and consists of atoms. There are two kinds of matter : gross (sthūla) and subtle (sūkşma). Gross matters are the things which we perceive, while subtle matter is beyond the reach of our senses. Subtle matter is that matter which is transformed into the different kinds of karma. kāla (time) is a quasi-substance and it is necessary to accept it as a substance in order to explain the changing state of the souls and matter.
X. Jaina Kālacakra (The Wheel of Time)
Just as the Hindus have satya, tretā dvāpara and kaliyuga, so also the Jains have a system of reckoning the kālacakra, i.e. the wheel of time. The Jains have divided time into two broad divisions-utsarpiņi (Progressive era) and avasarpiņi (Declining era). Each era is divided into six wheels (ara-s), and both the eras have twelve sub-divisions. Each division is known as kāla (time). The Jains think that as the Universe is beginningless and endless, so also the flowing of time is endless and limitless, and yet it is conceived that the wheel of time has twelve periods for the convenience of our understanding.
At present we have the avasarpiņi (Declining period) and its division is as follows:
1) Suşamā-suşamā (period of extreme happiness),
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