Jaina World of Non Living

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 84

The Jaina world of Non-living
it is opined that it is only beingness which has existential property, then there will be no existence of the above three entities as they cannot be called existing like the ass's horns.
Thus, it is proved that the living one is characterised as the special reality associated with activity of life (like respiration, consciousness etc.) with natural and beginningless changes. 3. Q. The reality will be defined as an entity having properties of origination, destruction and permanence as in aphorism 5.29. It is due to these characteristics that the entities like medium of motion etc. are termed as realities. Thus, this aphorism 5.3 does not serve any purpose for their numeration. A. This is not correct. This aphorism is meant for accurate ascertainment of the number of realities. This states that there are only six realities in the universe-named as (i) living, (ii-iii) medium of motion and rest, (iv) space, (v) mattergy and (vi) time to be described later.
This ascertainment leads to the exclusions of other realities like direction etc. postulated by other philosophical systems (specially Vaišeșikas) who postulate nine realities. Q. How is it so? A. The realities of (i) earth, (ii) water, (iii) fire, (iv) air and (v) mind or brain are included in the reality of mattrgy as they have the properties of touch, taste, colour and smell. This is not correct that air and mind do not possess colour etc. This can be proved by inference like :
"The air has colour etc. as it has touch like pitcher."
The colour etc. cannot be negated because of their lack of perceptibility by sense of sight etc. as it may lead to negation of invisible atoms etc. which will be an unwarrantable stretch.
The mind has two varieties : (i) physical and (ii) psychical. The psychical mind is knowledge and this is the innate attribute of the living. Hence, it is included in the category of the living. The physical mind is a modification of mattergy as it has colour etc. It is not proper to postuilate absence of colour etc. in the physical mind because they are not perceived by senses. These attributes are found even in dis-similar materials like atoms etc. which are said to be non-perceptible by senses.
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