Jaganmohanlal Pandita Sadhuwad Granth

Author(s): Sudarshanlal Jain
Publisher: Jaganmohanlal Shastri Sadhuwad Samiti Jabalpur

Page 399

२५० पं० जगन्मोहनलाल शास्त्री साधुवाद ग्रन्थ
mentions its property of expansion and contraction. There are many types of microorganisms in air. Their properties have come to science quite late in Pasteur's time.
Though air is skandha, but there is no mention whether it is a mixture or compound. The canons contain meagre physical or chemical properties of it. It is now known that there are many gases besides air-some colored and others colorless. They could be lique. fied and solidified. They could be put to large number of uses.
The Vaisheshikas88 also have obliquely moving air which is recognised by touch and inferred by a-hot-a cold touch, production of sound and vibrations and by causing lighter bodies to float in sky. Despite mentioning its innumerable varieties, they have pointed only inhaling and exhaling air present in all parts of the body. Its obstruction has also been mentioned. It is said that it causes biochemical processes to proceed and the body to run-a fact not mentioned by the Jainas. The Buddhas have air as a primary matter with not much details about it.
The Fire or Taijas Sksndhas
The fire or taijasa skandhas represent various types of energy particles. Some of them like light are visible by sense of sight while others are percieved by senses other than sight Basically sunrays or fires are called taijasa. They are not by nature a point not mentioned in literature but observed physically. That is why sound energy has not been called taijasa. The Pragyapanas9 classifies these skandhas in two-fine and gross forms. It is the gross variety that has been classified in canons and shown in Table 5. The flames (with or without light) are the known forms of gross fires. Dashivaikalika 4) gives seven forms of fires while Pragyapana describes at least twelve forms. Others mention their own numbers. But if one takes pure fire as fire produced without fuels (i.e. by striking stones, rods or bamboos and gem fire-burning through glass or gems) and star burning, electric lightning etc. are all included in the Ulka variety, then there is not much difference in the varieties of fires by different authors. It may be guessed that those mentioned ones are not the only fire skandhas, but there may be many others as the authors use the term etc. They have done so in case of water and earths also.
The above taijasa skandhas have three aspects: heat and/or light and electric lightening which is produced by differece in charges. Thus, it may be inferred that the term taijasa has included energies (of today) known during the canonical periods. The important point to be noted here is that the electric lightning or its forms in the sky have been taken as fire skandhas. These are natural forms of electricity. All these are described in physics rather than chemistry of today.
38. See ref. 9 p. 118-20 39. See ref. 16, p. 46 40. See ref. 26, p. 112