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JAIN JOURNAL
larger for moon and 30 times lesser for sun. This discrepancy is awaiting explanation. The other values of utsedha angula will increase the discrepancy still further.
It has already been pointed out that the normal angula is 1-d and it is also named as sūcyangula. There seems to be some difference in the RV23 and JDP descriptions of this unit. But JDP seems to be more reasonable. This angula has three varieties as shown in Table 4. It is seen that there is difference between the values of pramāna angula in Digambara and Svetambara systems. No comments have been made on this point by modern scholars who have mostly mentioned this difference. For equivalence, the two pramāna angula must be equal. One could suggest that this difference has accrued due to the two forms of angula units-atma and utsedha, the one ātma angula being double of the other utsedha angula. It could be surmised that the Digambara pramāna angula is based on utsedha angula scale while the other pramāna angula is based on ātma angula scale. If both are taken on the same scale, the difference will vanish. From the example of the Lord's body height, it is the utsedha angula scale coined by cannonicals. Thus, the Svetambara value converted to utsedha angula scale will give us the Digambara value of prāmaņa angula. Some calculations on this basis are given in Table 6. If one takes the Svetambara value of prāmaņa angula, the results will be highly disdiscrepant.
The treatment of current equivalence of utsedha angula by many scholars presents a situation which was prevalent in the scientific world some 150 years ago when lack of standardisation produced confusion and checked growth of science. The same is the case with the atom when scholars of orient are pitching on the indivisiblity which has been shaterred. N. L. Jain24 has pointed out some problems in this regard and suggested the description to be taken in historical perspective. However, there seems a tendency in some scholars to trace cannonical origin for all the newly developed facts and to either overlook or keep mum over the scientific evalutions of a large number of discrepant cannonical descriptions about the physical phenomena. Sometimes varied explanations are given for the same fact to make it scientifically consistent despite the fact that opposite or inconsistent results accrue from this trend. Some of the results of calculations based on current opinions regarding equivalent values of utsedha angula are shown in Table 6 which will substantiate the above statement. The calculations
23 See f.n. 7, p. 208. 14 Jain, N.L., 'Atomic Theory of the Jainas, an Evaluation', Tulsi Prajna, X-11, 1985.
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