Book Title: Jainism the Creed for All Times
Author(s): D S Baya
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Page 128
________________ From the discussion on the Dharma and the Adharma Dravya, two things emerge – 1. They are the mediums of all motion and position in the space, and 2. They define the limit of the universal space. The universal space extends up to the extent that these mediums are present. Beyond this limit is the nonuniversal space in which no motion or position of any kind of matter -- sentient or insentient - is possible. Ākāśa Dravya (Space-matter) - As the very name suggests the Ākāśa--dravya or the spacematter is the abstract matter that provides space to all other types of matter - Jīva, Pudgala, Dharma, Adharma and Kāla. The ultimately smallest unit of space is known as pradeśa and, depending upon their density, it is capable of accommodating one particle of matter or infinite number of them. Here, it is worthy of mention that a single particle of matter requires at least one unit of space for its accommodation but one unit of space is also capable of accommodating infinite number of material particles. This particular attribute of the space-unit (pradeśa) is known as miraculous power of accommodation or Avagāhana-siddhi. The concept of 'black holes’, into which large objects vanish by being reduced to dense material points, may be explained by this definition of space-units. The space, according to the Jaina thought, is divided into two parts - 1. The universal space (Lokākāśa) that accommodates all other types of matter, living (līva) as well as non-living (Pudgala, Dharma, Adharma and Kāla), and 2. The non-universal space (Alokākāśa) that affords no location to other types of matter for the media of motion and position are not present therein. In other words, it is only the space-matter, which is not restricted to the universal space and extends beyond it. About the nature of space-matter, the Jaina concept is in conformity with the concept of real void (Šūnya-vāstavika) capable of accommodation - Avagāhana-yogya. 100 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES

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