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Letter 5
to know itself as well as other substances. And the omniscient ones are the ones whose attribute of knowledge is fully developed and th they know all the substances in totality in one samay.
Out of all these six substances only Pudgal substance has material existence. That is to say that it has attributes of touch, taste, smell and colour which could be known through the sensory organs we possess. That is known as Roopi or we can roughly say it is visible. Rest of the substances i.e. Jeev Dravya, Dharma Dravya, Adharma Dravya, Akash Dravya and Kaal Dravya are non-material Aroopi aut i.e. invisible.
You may wonder as to what is the point in knowing this seemingly tedious nature of the cosmos.
I understand your point and the doubt in your mind about the need to know nature of cosmos in such details because in this jet age we have no time to spare for unnecessary things, except for those that are beneficial to us. But without knowing the nature of the cosmos, it is impossible to know ourselves too ! That is why it is very essential to know the cosmos. It is like, for instance, our great grand parents had a huge ancestral property which was to be divided amongst 100 family members. Then we will be keen to know what is our share of the property.
But to know the exact proportion of our share in the property, it is very essential to know the total assets in the property. Then only we will know which part or portion we have inherited. At the same time we have to know what does not belong to us as our share but it is somebody else's share.
In the same way we have to find out, "who am I? I am one of the infinite Jeev substances which exist in this cosmos ". So,"now where do I stay at present? Or where is this Jeev substance placed in this cosmos? Am I spread all over the whole of Lokakash ?" "No. At presenti am placed in this present body or I exist in this human form." We have seen that the same space points i.e. Pradeshas of Lokakash which accommodate this Jeev are also accommodating other infinite Pudgal substances as well ( like physical body, karma substance etc.). Again in the same space points other substances like Dharma, Adharma, Akash, and Kaal are also existing. All these five substances except Pudgal are Aroopi arut or they cannot be experienced by any of the sensory organs. Only the body which is Pudgal is seen or experienced through sensory organs. That is why we erroneously think that I am this body and we identify ourselves with this present body form. Pandit Daulatramji narrates this misconception in his book Chhahadhala yecil as follows:
"तन उपजत अपनी उपज जान । तन नशत आपको नाश मान"
