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Jainism Upto the Last Victor
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Indian religions, is thus conceived of as a matter in Jainism. However, the Jainas hold that even in the state of bondage soul's power of action is not wholly lost, though its exercise in the absence of true knowledge only leads to more bondage. It was a cardinal principle with the Jainas that though man's own actions are responsible for his troubles yet he is capable of working out his own salvation. This is what is meant by their calling themselves Karmavadins and Kriyavadins. 30
The second reality or tattua is ajiva, the lifeless substance, whose chief characteristic is that it lacks consciousness: It is of five kinds:-pudgala, dharma, adharma, akasa and kala. Together with jiva, these five categories of ajiva constitute the six real substances (dravyas) that exist in the universe.
Pudgala denotes matter or material objects in general. It is the physical basis of the universe just as the jiva tattva is the psychical. The elements of nature-earth, water, fire, and airare all gross manifestations of matter. It is uncreated, indestructible, and real; so, the material world is not a figment of imagination but is substantially real, real independently of the perceiving mind. The test for assessing the realistic aspect of any philosophical system is the question: 'Does the world exist outside the perceiving mind or not?' If the answer is that it exists independently of one's own perception, it is symptomatic of the realist position; if not, it indicates an idealist philosophy. The basic definition of pudgala which stands for matter in Jainism is "that which can be experienced by the five sense organs." Hence the Jaina philosophy is a realist philosophy. Each sense organ is capable of giving the perceiver one type of knowledge of the external world; the sum total of the knowledge thus derived represents the various aspects of the world.
According to Jainas a second definition of matter is arrived at from the etymology of the word pudgala. The term pud refers to the process of combination and gala stands for dissociation. Therefore matter is that which undergoes modifications by combinations and dissociations. The exact significance of this definition can be gathered by analysing the Jaina view of the ultimate constituents of matter. When any object is divided, the parts obtained by division can be further divided; but the process of division cannot be indefinitely continued; for sooner or later a
