Jainism

Author(s): M R Gelra
Publisher: Createspace

Page 62

Upto the beginning of the 20th century, Einstein firmly believed that the 'mass is matter and matter is mass'. But in the sixties of 20th century force carrying particles like photon, graviton and gluon have been considered to be nearly massless. Still the concept of massless matter has not taken a firm footing in the field of science. Till then, it is not possible to explain the tremendous velocity of certain particles.
According to the Jains, the parmanu can move from one end of the universe to the other end, in a unit fraction of time. It means that the Jain concept regarding the velocity of parmanu is much greater than the velocity of light. The difficulty with the modern scientists is that, they have categorized the material particles on the basis of proper mass and velocity whereas Jain philosophy discusses massless fine pudgala on the basis of the intensity of smooth and rough tactility. It is interesting to quote the heading, which has appeared in press 'what is faster than the speed of light; light"
In an experiment in Princeton, New Jersey, physicists sent a pulse of laser light through caesium vapour so quickly that it left the chamber before it had even finished entering. It can happen only if the particle moves with a greater speed than light.
Pudgal in its largest form is called Achita Mahaskandh - an omnipresent inanimate entity. However, such Mahaskandh manifests itself in the rare of the rarest circumstances and that too for a few moments. As this event is singular to the Jains, it needs elaboration.
(xi) Inanimate Mahaskandh
Inanimate Mahaskandh is a form of Pudgal which spreads throughout the universe. This has been described in the process of kevali-samudghat, a phenomenon exclusively credited to the Jains. Kevali-samudghat happens only to those liberating souls who are left with little life span and the period required for emancipation of karmic matter is relatively more. In such singularly abnormal cases following sequence of events takes place : 1. The soul expands in the entire universe in such a way that each pradesh
(smallest unit) of soul penetrates in each pradesh of Universal space, in eight moments (Samaya). The soul expands in X, Y, Z, axis in three moments and takes one more moment in filling the border space of Loka and Aloka. In next four moments soul retraces its path. It all happens and no effort is required. The reader is advised to read Agamic literature to understand the relationship of
space and time. 2. Simultaneously, the existing karmic pudgals also inflate and get dissociated from
the soul permanently. 3. Unlike other religions where it is said that the liberated soul amalgamates with
God, Jains believe that the soul squeezes back to its normal size and re-enters the body leaving behind the network of karmic pudgals in the universe as a