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JAINAS CONCEPT OF SUBSTANCE
Narendra Kumar Singh
A thing has many characters and it exists independently. It is called substance. Substance is defined which possess qualities and modes, and also possesses two different kinds of characters. Some are permanent and essential while others are changing. For instance consciousness, is the essential character of the soul, while desires, volitions, pleasure and pain are its accidental characters. The former are the attributes (guna) and the latter are modes (paryāya).
The definition of substance (dravya) that we find in Jainism is this, "that which maintains its identity while manifesting its various modifications and which is not different from satta is called substance.
Substance is the subject of qualities (guņa) and modifications (Paryāya). The quality stays with the substance, and is constant, the modifications succeed each other. A particular piece of clay always has form, but not always the same form. It is never without form, form is a constant quality, these are modifications,
Substance is that in which there are origination, destruction, and permanence. With the origination of a new mode of existence there was the destruction of the old mode of existence, while the substance has remained permanent. With the destruction of a house there is the origination or coming into existence of a heap of debris. wh bricks etc. are the same. The substance is neither destroyed nor originated, only the mode of existence, only the relations between the parts in this case. It is true that modes of things are changing every minute but qualities are not changing. Thus, when a jug is made it means that the clay lump has been destroyed, a jug has been generated and the clay is permanent, all production means that some old modes have been lost, some new one's brought in, and there is some part in which it is permanent. The clay has become lost in some form, has generated itself in another, and remained permanent in still another form. Thus when a lump of gold is turned into a rod or a ring, all the specific
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