Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Boolchand
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society

Page 75

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it occupies a space-point in our mundane world, has a limited size and is not all-pervasive; it is called jīvāstikaya, the word a stikaya meaning anything that occupies space or has some pervasiveness. But the jiva is not matter, for it has consciousness which matter cannot have. Of the jiva the Jains have made a fivefold: classification according to the number of senses it possesses. The gial jiva possesses only one sense, the sense of touch, but has four gint, touch, body, the power of exhaling and inhaling, and the alloted term of life. Water, fire, wind, and all vegetable is supposed to have Fara Jivas. The alatu jiva possesses two senses, the sense of taste and the sense of touch, and has six giu, taste and speech in addition to the four slut of the 1977 jiva. Such jivas are in worms, leeches, earth-worms, etc. The tisa jiva similarly possesses three senses, the sense of smell in addition to those of taste and touch and seven voor, examples of such being ants, bugs, moths etc. The walipigo jive possesses four senses, of touch, taste, smell and sight and eight gror, the category including such beings as wasps, scorpions, mosquitoes, gnats, Aies, locusts and butterflies. The carzu jiva possesses all five senses, of hearing, taste, touch, smell and sight and includes human beings as well as animals, besides hell-beings and demigods. But all these classes of jiva are to be clearly distinguished from Ajiva which is classified into 97 and 39697. 6507 division is qans or matter, which possesses colour, smell, taste and form and is perceptible to touch. Its अरूपी division is further subdivided into धर्मास्तिकाय which helps the jiva associated with Pudgia to progress, affea at which keeps it motionless, आकाशास्तिकाय which gives it space and काल which gives it a continuity of changes.
As was said above, it is the union of jiva with matter which causes and constitutes sam sara. The form of this union is determined by the force of Karma. Karma
is a substantive force, a sort of infra-atomic particles Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat