Microcosmology Atom in Jain Philosophy and Modern Science

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 182

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Microcosmology: Atom
sound etc., which is the basis of modern technology, has been recognized by Jain philosophers as the basic attritutes of pudgala, since all forms of energy are fundamentally the modifications of the same substance.
1. SOUND
Both the Jain and scientific views agree on the basic concept that sound is in the forms of waves generated by vibrations as an attribute of physical substance, unlike some other Indian Schools of thought, (e.g. Vaiseṣika) which consider sound as a property of ākāśa (space).
If sound were generated by ākāśa or space (as is supposed by the Vaiseṣika school), sound would be still heard in vacuum. But sound waves do not travel in vacuum. In modern acoustics the sound is classified into (a) musical and (b) noises. This also agrees with the Jain view expressed earlier.
2. LIGHT AND DARKNESS
There is remarkable agreement between the views of the Jains and modern physics regarding the fundamentally material character of light. Photoelectric effect of light proves that light is a stream of photons which are essentially particles. On the other hand, the wave-character of light has been proved by the splitting of white light into beautiful colours of rainbow and many other experiments/phenomena. The paradox of wave-particle duality, which was one of the thorniest problems of modern physics forced physicists into radically new ways of perceiving the entire physical reality, and the new perceptual frames1 were found to be more compatible with experience than were the old. In fact, the duality was the end of the absolute classical view of the physical reality. The physicists had to abandon the 'EitherOr' way of looking at the Reality. They could no longer accept the proposition that light/energy/matter is either a particle or a wave, because they had convinced themselves that it was both, depending upon how they looked at it. Niels Bohr's concept of
1. These follow the unique principle of non-absolutism - Anekantavada of