Book Title: Jaina Biology
Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

Previous | Next

Page 3
________________ 3TTHET-919. 124 has been followed by the Jainas to see through a mass of biological data and they suggest a reason for their interrelations, as science advances only by scientific investigations : hypothesis, observation, revised hypothesis, further observation and so on. In the words of Einstein "In the whole history of science from Greek philosophy to modern physics, there has been constant attempts to reduce the apparent complexity of natural phenomena to some simple, fundamental ideas and relations.'5 Some of the practical uses of a knowledge of Jaina Biology will become apparent in the fields of medicine and public health, in agriculture and conservation, its basic importance to the social studies, and its contribution to the formulation of a philosophy of life, together with aesthetic values, as it is impossible to describe the forms of life without reference to their habitats, the places in which they live, in a given region, being closely interrelated with each other and with the environment in the closely interwoven tapestry of life. 2. Some Generalizations of Jaina Biological Science The idea that living systems are distinguised from nonliving ones by some mysterious vital force (paryāpti) has gained acceptance in Jaina Biology, while one of the basic tenets of modern Biology is that “the phenomena of life can be explained in terms of chemisyry and physics."'\7 The idea that the living systems are not distinguised from nonliving ones by some mysterious vital force has only recently gained ground in Biology, only 40 years ago, when the German embryologist, Hans Driesch, postulated the theory of the existence of transcendent regulative principles, entelechies, which control the phenomena of life and development."18 There appear to be no exceptions to the generalization that all life comes only from living things. Like the experiments of Pasteur, Tyndal and others,'' just century ago finally, the Jainācāryas, provided convincing proof that micro-organism. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20