Jaina Gazette 1930 03

Author(s): Ajitprasad, C S Mallinath
Publisher: Jaina Gazettee Office

Page 9

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THE JAINA GAZETTE
whether it is Kshiti or Ap or Tejas or Marut, has all the four characteristics and as such, all Bhutas are but essentially one. One may think that in this Jaina theory of the one-ness of ultimate Matter, we have a foreshadowing of the conjecture of the present day scientists that the so-called elements may be but compounds of one or two ultimate simple substances.
The Bhutas and the Pudgala are thus ultimate material principles, explaining the phenomena which appeal to our sense-organs. But what about Sound? The Naiyayikas as well as the Vedantins agree that our auditory sensations are to be explained by the supposition of another Bhuta viz. Akasa. Akasa is ordinarily translated as Ether. It is said that the quality of Akasa is Sound. In 2-1-24 of the VaiseshikaSutras, Kanada says that Sound must be supposed to be the quality of Akasa, because of the argument that every quality found in the effect must be referred to the quality in the cause.' In other words, Sound is said to be possible because of the existence of Akasa, a material Bhuta. And just as Kshiti, Ap, Tejas and Marut are supposed to be the material constituent and basis of our sense-organs of Smell, Taste, Sight and Touch respectively. Akasa is the element of which our Sense of Hearing is made. Sound is thus a quality. The Naiyayikas contend that this attribute is to be found in Akasa and Akasa alone. The Vedantins, on the contrary, maintain that while it is the sole and distinctive quality of Akasa, it is nevertheless present in all the other four Bhutas. The Jainas, however, deny that Sound is a quality. It is according to them, only a modification of Pudgala,-not one of its qualities. "Sound results from Skandhas," says Kundakundacharyya, "Skandhas are the aggregates of Paramanus. When these molecular masses or aggregates strike against one another, Sound is produced which may be Natural or Artificial." Sound, according to the Jainas then, is not an attribute of Pudgala-Paramanu like Taste, Smell, Touch and Colour; it is only a mode of the molecular mass, i.e., it is produced only when a gross substance strikes against another. If, then, Sound is not a quality, there need not be Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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