Jain Philosophy

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Agamoday Samiti

Page 31

four organs of sense, have the first five capacities, while those having five organs have all the six capacites.
The Jain caonical books treat very elaborately of the minute divisions of the living beings, and their prophets have long before the discovery of the microscope been able to tell how many organs of sense the minutest animalcule has. I would refer those who are desirous of studying Jain biology, zoology, botany anatomy, and physiology to the many books published by our society. *
I shall now refer to the four states of existence. They are naraka, tiryanch manushya, and deva. Naraka is the lowest state of existence, that of being a denizen of hell; tirpanch is next, that of having an earth body, a waterbody, a firebody, a windbody of being a vegetable and lastly animals, and birds, which are again divided into four classes of having two three four or five senses. The third is manushya the state of being a man and the fourth is deva, that of being a denizen of the Celestial world. The highest state of existace is the Jian Moksha, apotheosis in the sense that the mortal being by the destruction of all karman attains the highest severed spiritualism, and the soul be!ng severed from all connection with matter gains its purest state and becomes divine.
* Such books are in Sanskrit or Prakrit. Ed.