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10
DRAVYA LOKA
(MATERIAL UNIVERSE)
Universal Matter -
According to the Jaina view the universe is comprised of six types of matter (Şad-Dravya) of which only one is tangible, visible and concrete and the rest are intangible, invisible and abstract. The tangible matter is known as “Pudgala', which is responsible for all the visible part of the universe and the five intangible ones, namely - Jīva(the animate matter), Ākāśa(space), Dharma (Ether or the neutral medium of motion or dynamic inertia)), Adharma (Non-ether or the neutral medium of rest or static inertia) and Kāla (time). This chapter presents a bird's eye view of the material universe.
Soul : The Life -
We have dealt with this subject, in some detail, in the chapter on nine fundamentals. The Living beings or the souls form the very first of the nine fundamentals that support the entire edifice of Jaina philosophy. There, we have described the aggregate of fourteen types of living beings starting from undeveloped fine one-sensed creatures to the developed intelligent five-sensed ones. We also dealt with the four classes of living beings, namely the heavenly gods, human-beings, animals, birds, fishes, insects, as well as the microscopically fine organism belonging to the
