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THE JAINA THEORY OF MATTER. 57 Atom of Democritus. The Jaina philosophers call the Para. manu non-spatial also, so that their theory resembles the modern scientific conception of the Atom, as a geometrical centre of force.
According to the Jainas, it is the Paramanu which by its motion from one space-point to the immediate next, determines the minutest instant of time; in other words, an instant or. the shortest point or period of Kala corresponds to the motion of a Paramanu from the spatial point occupied by it to the immediate next. A Paramanu is thus the measure of time. The quantity or density (dradya) of a material mass as well as the extent of space (Kshetra), occupied.by it, depend obviously on the Paramanus, the constitutive elements of the mass. The temporal order (Kala) of the mass is also dependent on the Para manus. And finally, the Para manus, through their aggregation and disintegration, determine the varied modifications (bhava) of a material substance. For these reasons, a Paramanu is looked upon as the “ Paolhatta" of “Samkha" i.e., determinate of the number or quantity of a material mass.
The constitutive Paramanus thus are what differentiate one Skandha from another. They by their combination or disintegration make or unmake the Skandhas. It is doubtful if the mystery with regard to the actual mode of the Paramanus combining with one another has been satisfactorily solved. What so far the scientists have been able to determine is that a peculiar combination of elemental atoms yields a peculiar effect; but the question how the atoms do actually 'combine, remains unanswered still. We need not enter into details here of the Jaina account of the combinatiun of the Paramanus. According to Uma-suomi, the atoms of Matter unite because of their attributes which he calls 'Snigdhatva' or smoothness and 'Rukshaloa' or roughness. He says that an atom with the minimum degree of smoothness or roughness cannot combine with another; that atoms with equal degree of smoothness or roughness of the same state cannot com
bine with an atom of their own or of the opposite state; that Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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