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100 / JAIN STUDIES AND SCIENCE
Of these five forms, the nearest to humans and animals are plants. All of them undergo the process of ageing; they have feelings and are vulnerable to diseases. The only difference is in their mobility. All these similarities are well accepted and proven by science. Here, both the Jain concept and science agree to a very large extent. They both postulate the consciousness in all living beings and plants except that their quanta of consciousness differ. Extrapolating on this concept, Jagdish Chandra Basu conducted some experiments on metals and grains. He started with the presumption that they too have consciousness but in a very low magnitude. He could establish that the metal atoms undergo fatigue when under pressure and it can be relieved by proper excitation. He found that the grain particles which are presumed to be life-less or dead, in fact, experience the euphoria and despair; they also have feelings of jubilation and misery. Finally, he proclaimed that the entire matter in this world have at least some degree of consciousness. Unfortunately, his research disappeared in oblivion due to his untimely death.
4.1. Other Experiments of Jagdish Chandra Basu
Though Indian philosophies have always been of the view that the plants possess consciousness, for scientific fraternity, the challenge was accepted by none other than an Indian scientist Jagdish Chandra Basu. He proved that the chloroplast present in the Protoplasm of plants gets excited when exposed to melody. Professor Vogel went a step ahead and recorded these internal vibrations on a graph. He also arrived at the same conclusion that the plants too have sensitivity. Floral beings are aware of changes in seasons, they too feel hunger and thirst, and they have their own share of joy and sorrow. Another such experiment conducted on tomatoes, revealed that these plants send electrical impulses when bitten by an insect. These impulses are similar to the ones produced in animal reflex nerves. All such experiments have proved beyond doubt that the floral form of life has the consciousness and thus have a soul.
5. Theory of Evolution, Genetics and Cloning
A few decades ago this world was impressed by an elegance and simplicity of Darwin's theory of evolution. This revolutionised the human thought process and around fifteen decades down the lane, the genetic engineering, cloning and birth of a new life in a laboratory are not fictions but hard realities.
5.1. Evolution The main message of Darwin's theory promulgated in 1856 was that
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