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Vardhamâna and the Foundations of Jainism
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are subject to an endless temporal cycle, half progressive and half regressive. These half- cycles, called utsarpinî and avasarpini, respectively, are themselves each divided into six time stages"(kala as follows: utsarpini (progressive half-cycle):
1) dusama-dusama (extremely unhappy) 2) dusama (unhappy) 3) dusama-susama (more unhappy than happy) 4) susama-dusama (more happy than unhappy) 5) susama (happy)
6) susama-susama (extremely happy) avasarpini (regressive half-cycle):
1) susama-susama (extremely happy) 2) susama (happy) 3) susama-dusama (more happy than unhappy) 4) dusama-susama (more unhappy than happy) 5) dusama (unhappy) 6) dusama-dusama (extremely unhappy). 68
The utsarpinî and avasarpini follow directly upon one another in unbroken succession; there is no period of pralaya (demanifestation) during which the karma-bhûmis are not in one of the above stages. These half-cycles each last for a vast but finite number of years. The life expectancy of human beings dwelling in the karma-bhumis increases with each stage of the utsarpinî, and correspondingly decreases with each stage of the avasarpini. It is believed that only during the third and fourth stages of a half-cycle, when there is neither an extremity happiness nor of unhappiness, can anyone possibly attain moksa. The point is that only at such a time are human beings sufficiently short-lived and unhappy to understand impermanence and suffering, yet free enough from misery to conceive of and pursue moksa. Jainas claim that there will be precisely twenty-four Jinas during each half-cycle;69 this is true for every karma-bhumi continent except the Videhas (that is, the "half-in-karma-bhumi" areas of each dvîpa), which are said to be always in a condition equivalent to the end of the third stage. This latter claim underlies the further contention that at every moment there is a living Jina somewhere. In other words the path of salvation is open at any
