Perspectives in Jaina Philosophy and Culture

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

Page 57

stumbling block to the beginner" Onc startling conclusion from this theory is that both space and timc vanish away into nothing if there is no matter It is matter in which originate space and time and our universe of perception So is the conclusion of Jain thinkers in the infinite pure space cxtending beyond loka, no other substance exists but space, there is no matter and hence there are no grains of time The resemblance is striking
Thc practical unit of time is two fold-onc for the measurement of small intervals and the other for thc measurement of citremely long intervals Earlier, Nimcsha has been indicated as the smallest unit of timc cquivalent to 1/4th of a second A still smaller unit of limc is Prativipalansha which is 1/9000 th of a second
According to the Hindu Puranas, 43,20,000 years make a Mahayuga and 1000 mahayugas make a Kalpalala. The period of Kalpakala is the Brahma's day and an equal interval is Brahma's night At the end of cach Kalpa, Brahma creates a new universe Thus the number of years in a kalpa is 4,32,00,00,000 (total number of digits is 10) But according to the Jainas, the years of Kalpakala can be expressed by a number consisting of 77 digits of which 26 arc numerals followed by 50 ciphers The numcrals are in the following order
826905260616406355499024384 x 1050 Origin and end of the Universe :-In Hindu Trinity, Brahma, Vusnu and Mahesa have been allotted specific functions of creation, prcscrvation and destruction of the universe respectively, 1 c thesc arc thc attributes of the Godhood There arc fixed times for creation and destruction As alrcady stated above, a Mahayuga consists of 43,20,000 years and 71 mahayugas make a Manvantara The word Manvantara mcans the time interval between the successive Manus or the law givers Fourteen Manus arc born in a Kalpakala Before and after the birth of each of the 14 Manus the world is submerged under water for a period of years equal to 4,32 000 x 4 Thus the total number of times that the world is submerged under water is 15 and the corresponding total period is 4,32,000 X 4x15=43,20,000 X 6 years 1 e 6 mahyugas Since there are 14 Manus in cach Kalapakala and they are born at intervals of 71 mahayugas and 6 mahayugas clapse during the period of floods which occur 15 times in one Kalpa, the total period of a Kalpa is 71 x 14 =994+6=1000 mahayugas Therefore, corresponding to our 24 hours day, Brahma's day consists of 8640 million years
The Puranas state that the Brahma creates the universe afresh at beginning of the day and it is submerged under water during night The disappearance of the universe in this manner is called Naimittika Pralaya In this the entire matter of the universe concentrated in one place but is not destroyed During one such Pralaya, the great sage Markandeya alone was alive and all other celestial and terrestrial objects ceased to exist There was water and water cverywhere and
15