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Letter 12
Here, please note, we are deriving a very important principle of Jainism and that is 'the substance which is conventionally called the cause of an activity but in fact is not a true cause is called instrumental cause i.e.Nimitta faf. In this case of the activity of healing the conventional cause is the Kaal Dravya. We have already seen that the instrumental cause does not do anything in the modification of the other substance.
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It is well known to everybody that time flows continuously without any break with every passing samay and second. We have seen that Kaal is a substance and its modifications in the form of samayas and seconds known as Vyavahar Kaal have a continuous flow.
In the same way the flow of the modifications of all the substances is also non stop and continuous. At every samay there is one modification in the next samay there is another modification. Thus the flow goes on as one modification per samay. This is not empty talk, the scriptures are the proof.
A thousand years ago Acharya Amrutchandra wrote an explanatory book on Samayasar which was written by Acharya Kundkund. This book is known as Atmakhyati or Samaysar Kalash. 65th verse in this Atmakhyati is as follows.
स्थितेति जीवस्य निरंतराया स्वभावभूता परिणामशक्तिः
तस्यां स्थितायां स करोति भावं यं यस्य तस्यैव भवेत स कर्ता ॥
It means the power to have modifications ( परिणमनरूप सामर्थ्य ) of the Chetan or Jeev Dravya is there in existence forever without any beginning (feae). And that is its own intrinsic nature. This modification ability is going on continuously like a flow, without any break even for one samay. And whatever state of Veetaragata or passions the Jeev achieves is because of this power of modification. He himself is the doer of that modification or change.
Some times we get angry and we think that some other person or an incident is the cause of that anger in us. But infact we are the doers or the real cause of the anger.
The substance exists permanently dispite of continuously changing. It is constant and also at the same time ever changing. To change continuously through its modifications is the intrinsic nature of the substance. And even while changing, to exist at all the times permanently, is also its nature (fancit ya rama).
How is it possible that the substance is changing and is also at the same time unchanging or permanent?
If we know a child while he is 10 years old, and then if we see him when he is 20 years old, as an adult, we still recognise him as the same person which we knew as a ten year old child. There is a lot of change in him and still we know him to be the same person.
