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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
Let us go a bit deeper into the problem in order to make the point more clear.
All things are characterised by origination, destruction and persistence. Each and every thing has the triple character of origination, destruction and persistence. Take, for example, a golden necklace. After having broken it, a golden chain is made. At that time we clearly notice the destruction of the golden necklace and the origination of the golden chain. But the chain which is made out of the total gold obtained by breaking the necklace is not an entirely novel thing that has come into existence. It could be regarded as an entirely novel thing that has originated, only if nothing of the necklace has entered into its being. But when the total gold of necklace has entered into its being and merely the form-of-necklace is changed, then how can it be considered to be an entirely novel thing that has originated? By the same logic, we cannot say that the necklace is totally destroyed. We can say so, only if nothing of the necklace has persisted. When the total gold of the necklace has entered into the being of the chain and persists there, how can we say that the necklace is totally destroyed? From this we very well understand that destruction of the necklace is true insofar as the form-of-necklace is concerned, and the origination of the chain is true insofar as the form-of-chain is concerned. But gold of which the necklace and the chain are made is the same; it is common to both. The necklace and the chain are nothing but the different forms or modes of the same gold.
On the basis of this, anybody can say that when the chain is made after breaking the necklace, the form-of-chain originates, the form-of-necklace gets destroyed and gold persists; thus we rightly observe origination, destruction and persistence. In other words, we can say that gold in the form of necklace has been destroyed, gold in the form of chain has originated and gold qua gold has remained what it was (i.e., persisted); and all this at one and the same time. Such instances are present everywhere and at all times for one to observe. When a house collapses and gets destroyed, all the materials of which it was built are not totally destroyed. All those things or substances persist in the world in this or that form, subtle or gross; ultimately they do exist in the world in the form of ultimate atoms. So, the total destruction of the house is an impossibility and does not stand to philosophical reasoning. On the disintegration of
1. utpäda-vyaya-dhrauvyayuktam sat - Tattvārthasutra, V. 29
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