________________
MATTER
spatial particles if they are all free. And this process is to be continued to infinity.'
Difference between the Vaiseșika and the Jaina Conceptions:
117
The Vaiseṣikas regard nine substances as the constituent elements of the universe other than qualities, actions etc. They are earth, water, fire, air, ether, time, space, soul and mind.
Of these nine substances, earth, water, fire and air are included in the Jaina category of pudgala (matter), since pudgala is defined as a substance possessing touch, taste, smell and colour as its qualities. The Vaiseṣikas hold that air is without colour, taste and smell. It has the characteristic of touch only. This conception of the Vaiseṣikas is not tenable, because even an elementary student of physics knows that air can be converted into a 'bluish liquid' by continuous cooling, just as steam can be converted into water. This is a concrete proof that air has colour. And since it has colour, it must possess both taste and smell.
Jain Education International
They regard fire as devoid of taste and smell and possessing touch and colour only. This belief is also blind, for the scientists have clearly demonstrated that fire is a material substance. When the energy of molecular agitation in a substance becomes very acute, its temperature rises and we get the sensation of fire. It is a form of energy and we know that energy and matter are identical. Hence, all the characteristics of matter are associated with fire, because fire is composed of material particles raised to a high temperature. The exponents of the Vaiseṣika system regard smell to be existent only in earth. We agree that our nose in general cannot perceive water, fire or air, but on that ground we are not entitled to hold that odour is not associated with all these
1. Sarvärtha-siddhi, V. 14.
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
