Book Title: Jain Studies and Science
Author(s): Mahaveer Raj Gelada
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 45
________________ NEW THOUGHTS / 41 Examples from Jain Literature Term 'Pudgal is extensively used in the Jain literature to describe the constitution of matter. Today, scientists use similar terminology for quarks and other micro particles. They have assigned various basic properties to these particles like frequency, spin, etc. Identical references are available in Jain literature regarding the basic properties of a 'Pudgal, which are, Varna (colour), Gandha (smell), Ras (taste) and Sparsha (touch). The last quality of Pudgals, namely, the Sparsha has further classification consisting of four opposite pairs - Snigdha-Ruksha (Degrees of smoothness), Light-Heavy (measurement of weight), Shiet-Ushna (Degrees of temperature) and Mrudu-Karkash (readiness to interact). In any composition of matter, presence of these opposite pairs is essential. Entire Universe is based on the co-existence of opposites. The law of opposites as propounded by Mahapragya has its roots in the Jain Agams. Sthanang, Nandi and Dashvekalik Sutras have the description of opposite couplets aplenty. Some of them are mentioned forthwith 1)Mentions of pairing opposites are abundant in the first and second sections of Sthanang (Thagn) Sutras. Fourteen axioms are stated in the opening paragraph of the first chapter, out of these fifth to fourteenth are of special interest in the context of present discussions. These self sufficient truths are tabulated as follows5th - There is one LOK (Universe) 6th- There is one ALOK (Void) 7th - There is one Dharmastikaya gth. There is one (Dynon) Adharmastikaya (Staton) 9th - There is one Band (Bondage) 10th- There is one Moksha (Emancipation) 11th - There is one Punya 12th - There is one Pap (Sin) (Chastity) : 13th - There is one Ashrav 14th - There is one Samvar (Attraction) (Repulsion) Mahapragya comments that these axioms actually form pairs. The universe is fully filled with opposing pairs, or we may say that it is because of opposing pairs that the universe exists. 2)The heading of first paragraph of second chapter of Sthanang (Thagn) Sutra is 'Dvipadavtar' - meaning 'duo'. It says everything under the sun appears in pair. A few such examples are - Jiva-Ajiva, Trus-Sthavar, Dharma-Adharma, Vedna-Nirjara etc. Jain Education International For Personal & Private Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272