Jaina Philosophy and Religion

Author(s): Nyayavijay
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology

Page 37

Essentials of Jaina Philosophy
Moreover, even one name of the physical body is samsāra. And those who are attached to their bodies or births saṁsāra) are called saṁsārī. The primary sense of the term 'samsāra' being the soul's state of bondage with karma, we can very well understand as to what the defining characteristic of the saṁsārī (transmigratory) souls is.
We can classify the transmigratory souls in various ways. In one way, they are divided into two main classes-mobile (trasa) and immobile (sthāvara). Those who can voluntarily move from one place to another in order to seek pleasure and avoid pain are mobile. And those who cannot voluntarily move from one place to another in order to seek pleasure and avoid pain are immobile. The earth-bodied, the water-bodied, the fire-bodied, the air-bodied and the plant-bodied souls are included in the class of the immobile souls. These five types of immobile souls have one sense-organ only and that one sense-organ is invariably the tactile one. Therefore, they are called one-sensed souls. These onesensed souls are again divided into two classes — the subtle and the gross (bādara). The subtle earth-bodied, the subtle water-bodied, the subtle firebodied, the subtle air-bodied and the subtle plant-bodied souls are present everywhere in the universe. As their bodies are very subtle, we cannot see them. The gross earth-bodied, the gross water-bodied, the gross fire-bodied, the gross air-bodied and the gross plant-bodied souls are amenable to visual perception. Souls whose bodies are various forms of earth, viz., stone, clay, etc., which have not suffered attacks of friction, collision, cutting, etc., are to be understood as gross earth-bodied souls. Souls whose bodies are various forms of water, viz., well-water, river-water, pondwater, stepwell-water, etc. which are not attacked by fire or not influenced by mixing some other substance with it are to be regarded as gross waterbodied souls. Similarly, souls whose bodies are lamp, fire, lightning, etc., are gross fire-bodied souls. Souls whose bodies are various forms of air that we experience with our skin are gross air-bodied souls. And a tree, its branches, sub-branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, bulbous roots, etc., are gross plant-bodied souls. When the above-mentioned forms
1. Jagdish Chandra Bose, a great Indian scientist, has proved that even plants, etc. have
souls by demonstration in scientific experiments. Modern scientists are of the opinion that all so-called empty spaces are filled with subtle living beings. This view is identical with the one upheld by the Jaina thinkers. Again, a well-known discovery made by the modern scientists long ago is that of a very subtle living being—it is so minute that on a point of a needle a lakh of them can rest easily. Such descriptions are on line with those found in the Jaina scriptures.