________________
192
Microcosmology : Itom
The former are possessed of: (1) snigdha (gluey) and rūksa (dry) (ii) śīta (cold) and ūşņa (hot) The latter have four additional kinds of touch : (iii) laghu (light) and guru (heavy) (iv) mrdu (soft) and kathora (hard) The paramāņus have only two sparsa : (1) either snigdha or rūkșa. (ii) either sita or üsna.
Comparing these characteristic qualities of pudgala with those of subatomic particles - protons, neutrons, etc., we find that:
(1) snigdha (gluey) and rūkņa (dry) correspond to the electric charges + ive and - ive respectively.
(ii) while guru (heavy) and laghu (light) correspond to the quality of 'mass'.
Our identification of snigdha and rūkșa with + ive and - ive charges is based on the following commentary in Sarvārthasiddhi on sūtra 5/24 of Tatt vārtha sūtra - "....Snigdha-rūksatva-gunanimitto vid yu ..........." That is, lightning in clouds is produced by the qualities of snigdha and rūkşa, i.e., due to the development of + ive and - ive charges in the clouds.
Similarly, the sparśa guru (heaviness) and laghu (lightness) are to be identified with mass. A paramānu has no mass but it must possess either a + ive electric charge (snigdhatva) or a - ive electric charge (rūkștva). All catuḥsaparsi compositions have no mass. In other words, paramānu pudgala and all catuḥsaparși pudgala are neither guru nor laghu. They are agurulaghu i.e. without mass.
When physicists listed all the known particles by the order of their masses, from the lightest to the heaviest, they discovered that subatomic particles fall roughly into three categories -(1) the light-weight particles, (2) the medium-weight particles, and (3) the
