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Sthavara). Right from the Acaranga to the Tattvārtha-sūtra, earth, water and vegetation are regarded as immobile (Sthavara) and fire, air and the two, three, four and five-sensed living creatures as mobile (Trasa). The last chapter of the Uttaradhyayana, Kundakunda's Pañcāstikāyasāra and Umasvati's Tattvārtha-sūtra confirm it. Afterwards not only earth, water, and vegetation but all one-sensed beings were regarded as immobile, although due to the movement seen in fire and air it becomes difficult to regard them as immobile. The root cause of the problem was that in those days the two or more sensed beings were called Trasa and so it was thought that other than two or more-sensed beings, all one-sensed beings, were Sthavara (immobile).
This shows the change which had taken place in the fifth to sixth century in the Trasa-Sthavara classification approximately. After that in both the Svetambara and the Digambara sects the concept of Pañca-Sthāvara had found firm footings. It is noteworthy here that when air and fire are regarded as Trasa, there is the use of the term Udara (Urala) for Trasa. In the beginning the criterion of classification of Trasa-Sthavara is made from the point of view of movability of things, and as air and fire are movable in nature they are thought of as Trasa. The movable nature of Vayu is so apparent that it is the first to be called Trasa out of five onesensed beings.
By minute observations it is seen that fire too has a tendency of gradual expansion through fuel so it is also taken to be Trasa (mobile). But the movement of water is regarded as possible only due to the low level of the earth and so movement is not its own nature. Therefore, water, like vegetation, is also taken as Sthavara
159 Jainism and its History
