Nature of Time

Author(s): Nagin J Shah
Publisher: Z_Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_Mahotsav_Granth_Part_1_012002.pdf and Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_

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pervasive, eternal and devoid of physical qualities like colour etc.35 But as against the Vaiseșikas they believe that Time is perceptible by all the six sense-organs.36 One would ask as to how that which is devoid of physical qualities could be perceived by all the six senses. Šāstradīpikā solves the difficulty in the following manner. Time is not perceived independently by the senses; but along with the perception of various objects Time is also perceived as their qualification by all the senses.37 On the authority of Rāmānujācārya we can say that the Prābhākaras accept the Vaiseșika view of Time in toto.38
Advaita Vedānta View : According to this system Time is nothing but nescience (avidyā).29
Buddhist View: At a very early stage of Buddhism when even the Pitakas were not compiled a view that there is one unitary immutable Time along with the conditioned empirical time was prevalent, writes ĀC. Narendradeva, among the Buddhists. He bases his inference on the fact that those early Buddhists accepted matter (rūpa) only as impermanent and all other subtle elements like citta and vijñāna as immutable. He further states that the conception of time as the cause of the production of impermanent things finds support in the early Buddhist literature 40
Mahāvibhāsā refers to a view that regards time as immutable and samskȚta dharmas as impermanent. Moreover, according to this view time is a receptacle with three divisions--future, present and pastorganically continuous; saṁskṛta dharmas move in this receptacle; they having come out of the future enter the present and having come out of the present enter the past. Later on the one immutable time seems to have been removed and there remained merely the three transitions' (adhví). The Vaibhāşikas think that all the three transitions-future,
35 presenfa fayasitaifa T TERTSIETI -Mänameyodaya (Adyar Ed.), p. 191.
BET ART HiFra: ......?YTHITI -Advaitasiddhi (Nirnaya. Ed.),
p. 319. 33 : offset : 1 -Mänameyodaya, p. 190. 37 कालो न स्वातंत्र्येणेन्द्रियैर्गृह्यते; अथ च विषयेषु स्वेषु गृह्यमाणेषु तद्विशेषणतया सर्वैरपीन्द्रिययते ।
--Šāstradīpikā, 1. 1.5. 38 Tap:ETIA EFT FETITE a tarifs et ...... --Tantrarahasya
(G.O.S., Baroda), p. 17. 39 errafada....... 1-Siddhāntabindu (G.O.S., Poona), p. 96. 40 Bauddha-Dharma-Darsana (Ac. Narendradeva), pp. 574–75