Jain Biology

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 96

(vii) The souls of the living beings appropriate only those
skandhas which are suitable for them to become their āhāra; they cannot be unsuitable ones.
(viii) Even among the suitable skandhas, the beings appropriate
them only through the sequence (or order) and not out of sequence. (By sequence is meant, those which are nearer to the souls).
(ix)As far as the directions are concerned, the souls of the beings
would necessarily appropriate the skandhas from all the six direftions (viz., east, west, south, north, above and below), if there is no obstruction. In case of obstruction, they may be from three, four or five directions. (The obstruction is due to the supra-cosmic space-units which may be either in three directions or two or one direction; this is on account of the configuration of the cosmic space which is of the shape of three pyramids placed one above the other, with the lowest one facing downwards, the middle one facing upwards and the third one facing downwards). When the living beings are situated at the borderline of cosmic and supracosmic spaces, such obstruction would occur; otherwise for other beings there would be no such obstruction).
(x) All the above rules apply only generally. (It would mean that statistically, the probability is that they would apply). 19. UPAPĀTA—METEMPSYCHOSIS
Every mundane soul transmigrates from one form of living being to another one. This is called as "upapāta" or metempsychosis. In this description, it is given that from which type, the soul will come to this (present) life-form.
In the following eleven types of living beings, the humans except those which belong to akarmabhūmi (i.e. the region where agriculture,
JAIN BIOLOGY
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