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All these Tirthankaras appeared only during the 3rd and the 4th 'ara' of the present half-cycle of time called 'avasarpini' period (Jainas have a full cycle of time divided into two halves, each called 'utsarpini and avasarpini' again divided into six periods each of increasing or decreasing bliss and happiness again with a fixed number of years) and in all halfcycles of time during the 3rd and the 4th 'ara' only all the Tirthankaras of the past appeared and will similarly appear in future. When we take note of this fact, the number of years in each 'ara' and in each half-cycle of time and in each one full cycle of time becomes extremely relevant and this is nowhere clearly explained as being comprehensible to the present mind. Obviously therefore the 'duration' of the year is varying, and the duration of each 'ara' in years is varying and to what extent this variation is, there is no understadable clarity. The whole narration is so enormously vague that one gives up all efforts to figure out the actual time sense in apparent contradictions. However, with present researches in space-flights, scientists have today accepted the possibility that the speed of the vehicle and the distance of the far-olf planets in our or other galaxies make the contraction of these many years into just a few years understandable. What would be so many years to the earthlings will only be a few years to Tirthankaras coming from far off solar systems or galaxies.
juxtaposition with
the latest in
Let us put all these in to.day's relevant science:
More and more each year, science is of the opinion that life does exist elsewhere than on Earth. The more the biology and related sciences learn of the nature of life, the more are they convinced that this phenomenon of life would and must have occurred elsewhere in the cosmos. If only 1% of all the planets in other solar systems and of the great number of galaxies were susceptible to life, it would mean that there would be tens of thousands of bodies-worlds in other words -in space supporting life! Some of such worlds might have
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