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JAIN JOURNAL
(4) The Electrical Nature of the Atom: Kanada is said to be the father of ancient atom who explained the position of atom into the matter. Many Greek philosophers like Democritus and his followers, John Dalton in the nineteenth centuray, gave a clear concept of the atom until we come to the time of Sir Rutherford about 1919 who gave the planetary model of the atom and pointed out that atom is an assemblage of positive and negative electricity. It is significant to note that the electrical nature of the atom was already known to the Jaina writers and we read in Sūtra 33 of Tattvārthādhigama Sutra, Chapter V, snigdha-rukșatvād bandhah. These words snigdha and ruksa refer to positive and negative electrifications because Umasvami in the Sarvārtha-siddhi clearly states that lightening discharge in clouds is produced by the qualities of snigdha and ruksa that is due to the development of positive and negative charges. The same thing has been hinted at by Dr. B. N. Seal in his book The Positive Sciences of Ancient Hindus (London) when he says that the crude and immensely suggestive theory of chemical combinations (of the Jainas) is possibly based on the observed electrification of smooth and rough surfaces as a result of rubbing
(5) The Size of the Universe: Leaving aside the question of the shape of the Universe, the Jaina writers have given the volume of the Universe as 343 cubic rajjus according to Digambars and 239 according to Svetambaras where according to Colebrooke rajju is the distance which Deva flies in 6 months at the rate of 2,057,152 yojanas in one kşaņa or instant of time. Compare it with the size calculated by Einstein according to which the radius of the Universe is 1068 million light-years, where lightyear is the distance travelled by a ray of light in one year at the rate of 186000 miles per second. Although on account of the uncertainties involved in the magnitudes of the yojana and the instant of time, it is difficult to make a comparison. However, the rajju comes out of the order of 1020 miles (that is 1 followed by 21 zeroes). There are various theories about the creation of the Universe, the Big Bang theory being the most popular which postulates that in the beginning of time the Universe was the form of material highly concentrated corresponding to Brahma's golden egg, which began expanding suddenly and is expanding even today. This expansion of the Universe has been concluded on the basis of the feable red shift of the spectral lines. The present theory about the creation of the Universe which is known as Continuous Creation theory is at present finding favour with the scientists and represents the Jaina view according to which the Universe is not expanding, has a fixed volume, and will continue to exist as such in future. Sri Deepak Basu of the Institute of Radio Physics of Calcutta has published a very learned article in Science and Culture in April 1964. He writes as follows:
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