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Atom in Jain Philosophy
(b) PUDGALA IS ETERNAL/INDESTRUCTIBLE
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(e) PUDGALA IS NON-TRANSMUTABLE
Permanence (eternal existence) and non-transmutability are universal qualities of all substances including pudgala. Earlier, we had stated that 'temporally' pudgala is eternal, i.e. without a beginning and without an end. In the Bhagavatī sūtra, this attribute of pudgala is described extensively thus: "kalao na kayai na asi, na kayai natthi, na kayāi na bhavissai- bhavimsu ya, bhavati ya, bhavissai ya-dhruve, niyae, sāsae, akkhae, avvae, avatthie, nicce."
In this Sūtra, the eternal existence of pudgala is described by a group of apparent synonyms with subtle nuances. It would be extremely difficult to translate each term of the sutra by an exact English word. We shall, try to give an appropriate group of words which gives the same sense as the sutra:
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Kālao......bhavissai ya" means "Temporally, in the past, there was never any time when pudgala did not exist; in the present, there is no time when pudgala does not exist; in the future, there will not be any time when pudgala will not exist; (stated in positive words, it means) - pudgala did exist at all times in the past; pudgala does exist in the present; pudgala shall exist at all times in the future.'
"Pudgala is dhruva i.e., it is perpetual/persistent which emphasizes its endless continuity without pause."
"Pudgala is niyata i.e., it is quantitatively immutable or fixed which indicates that the law of conservation is strictly applicable. It means that2 the total quantity of pudgala in the universe is always constant; whatever was the quantity in the infinite past will always remain the same in the infinite future. Not a single paramāņu (ultimate atom) has been destroyed in the past nor will it be destroyed in future. Not a single paramāņu was newly created in the past nor will it be created in future."3
1. 2/10/129.
2. Tat. Süt. Siddhsena's Commentary, 5/3.
3. A parallel conception of this quality is the "Principle of Conservation of Matter and Energy" in modern science.
