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The Jaina world of Non-living
1-2. The term 'eternal (Nitya)' means permanance. It is formed from the root 'Ni' with addition of suffix 'tya' which connotes this meaning. The eternity means never losing or giving up the general and specific properties associated with the reality. This term will be defined in this way in a later aphorism 5.31. The realities like medium of motion etc. are charcterised by specific properties like causing motion or rest etc. and by general properties like existentiality etc. These individual attributes are never changed or given up by them. Hence, they are indestructible or eternal. 3. The term immutable (Avasthita) means that these realities have a fixed number. They do not transgress their numericality. There are only six realities, neither less nor more. Alternatively, they may also be called immutable as they do not transgress the numerical value of their individual space-points like innumerable spacepoints of medium of rest and motion, occupied space, single living being and infinite space-points of mattergy and unoccupied space. 4. Q. The word 'immutable' should not be there in this aphorism as the word 'eternal too connotes this meaning. The immutability cannot transgress eternality. A. This is not correct. All the realities have many types of modifications. These may be illustrated in terms of different modes of the realities like motion, rest and their changes. The term 'immutable' indicates that despite manifold modification, they do not lose their basic characters. For example, the realities of medium of rest, motion, time and space cannot have the property of tangibility or consciousness. Similarly, the living beings can never have the property of unconsciousness. The mattergy cannot have non-tangibility. 5. Q. The terms 'manifoldness of modifications' and 'immutability seem to be contradictory. How could they exist in the same reality ? A. Their existence is possible under two- fold standpointism. Every reality has two aspects - substantive and modal. Their properties depend upon the prominence of one of these aspects. Thus, the immutability with respect to substantive aspect and modifiability with respect to modal aspect can exist in a reality without any contradiction.
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