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sachitt-Agnikaya or not? Before answering this question, let us answer another question first - what are the characteristics of Agnikaya (live fire)? As we all know, fire starts as a spark - its infant state. It gathers its food (aahar) from the surroundings and grows. It lives as long as the food-energy is available to it. That is, when the entire inflammmale material is consumed, it dies. This is broadly the life cycle of fire. The above description suggests that it follows a typical pattern of self perpetuation as is done by any other animated form of life. These patterns are visible to us in fire existing in stars, fire in inflammable materials, fire in woods etc. In Jain Agams also, it is clearly mentioned that the sachitt-Agni exists in Triyak-lok only. Fire exists in upper and lower loks also, but is achitt. What is achitt-agni then? It is actually the heat. Modern science has proven that extreme heat can be generated even without fire. Such examples are microwave ovens, exothermic chemical reactions and nuclear fission and fusion. In all these cases, heat is generated even without fire. Tejas-vargnas are present but the animated fire is absent. Now let us examine whether the electricity falls under the category of sachitt-Agni?
10.2. What is Electricity?
Electricity has the capacity to ignite, Light has the similar capacity, and Friction too can create fire. But this capacity does not mean that the electricity, light and friction are themselves fire. In fact they are not in the state of plasma. Electricity is nothing but the movement of electrons. Like, air flows under pressure gradient, electricity flows under potential. It cannot self sustain itself. It does not grow by itself.
If electricity is treated as agnikaya, then we are creating a jiva every time we switch on a bulb and destroying it by switching off. Not only that, our entire thought process is based on transfer of tiny electrical signals, if they are jivas then the entire basis of Jain philosophy will collapse. Like many other characteristics of a pudgal such as weight, colour, etc., the electrical charge is just one attribute of dions and quadons (sukshma pudgal). It is by virtue of this property only that a dion combines to form quadons and octons. They keep on combining in innumerate forms of skandhs to create this pudgalic world around us. Wind energy makes a flag to flutter; it does not mean life has been infused in the flag.
Man employed his intelligence to utilise pudgals to his own use. For us, both knife and pen are made from matter, how to use it as per Jain practices is a different story. Similarly, electricity is a set of pudgals (matter), how to deploy it judiciously rests on the prudence of the user.
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