Book Title: Microcosmology Atom in Jain Philosophy and Modern Science
Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Page 144
________________ 126 Microcosmology : Atom number of densely packed paramānus may also occupy a single space-point. There is not a single space-point in the whole of the loka which is not occupied by paramāņus. Thus, paramāņus pervade the whole of the loka, and are confined within their boundary. 4. Temporally- Paramāņu existed in the infinite past, exists in the present and shall exist in the infinite future. it is eternal. 5. Qualitatively- Paramāņu possesses colour, taste, smell and touch. These four are innate characteristics of paramāņu. (a) Colour- Each paramānu possesses one of the five primary colours (black, blue, red, yellow and white). More than one colour or a mixture of two or more primary colours does not subsist in a free paramāņu. The intensity of the colour possessed by a paramānu could be one unit, two units and so on upto innumerable (asaṁkh yāta) units and even infinite (ananta) units. (b) Taste- What has been said about colour and its intensity in the preceding paragraph holds true about taste also. There are five primary tastes viz., sweet, acidic (sour), acrid, astringent and bitter, and each paramāņu possesses one of them. (c) Smell - There are two primary smells - pleasant and unpleasant. For the rest, every word of para (a) holds true by substituting 'smell' instead of colour'. (d) Touch-A free paramānu possesses anyone of the following four combinations of touches. (i) hot and dry (ii) hot and gluey (iil) cold and dry, and (iv) cold and gluey. Heaviness or lightness and softness or hardness are not the innate qualities of paramāņu. These four subsist only in composite bodies with gross structure. The intensities of dryness etc., possessed by paramānu could be one unit upto infinite units. On the basis of these four innate qualities of paramāņu, there are (5x5x2x4)-200 primary classes of paramānus. And on the basis of intensities of these qualities, there would be infinite subclasses of each of these 200 classes. 6. Rūpatva/Mūrtatva i.e. Corporeality-though paramāņu is beyond sensible cognition, it is rūpi-(corporeal) because it can be cognised by extra-sensory perception (such as avadhi jñāna or kevala jñāna). it is not arūpi, because it possesses sensible

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