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78
Pravacanasara
uttering the doctrines enunciated by the omniscient; and they are, as tradition would require, above any proof. Matter exists either in gross aggregates or fine primary atoms; an aggregate is a perceivable fact, while a primary atom, which represents a stage beyond which there is no possibility of further bisection, is beyond the ken of ordinary perception; only the super-normal perception can visualise it. A primary atom, as we gather from other works of Kundakunda, is the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. It is eternal, unsounding, occupying one space-point and endowed with touch, taste, smell and colour; it is the cause of four elements (dhātu), and it is characterised by change (pariņāma-guno). Every primary atom has only one taste, one [p. 82:] colour, one smell and two touches or contacts.2 With this description of paramāņu, it is possible to attempt a proof of atomic existence as partly done by Umasvati and others. It is clear from this description that the primary atom is not an ideal postulate like the geometrical point; it is essentially matter possessing the characteristics of matter or pudgala. There is this fundamental difference between Jaina primary atoms and the Vaiseṣika atoms: the former are of one kind, but the latter are of four kinds corresponding to four elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Attempts to conceive a visible entity like a mote in the sun-beam compared with the tertiary atom are seen in Nyaya-Vaisesika texts, but they are conspicuously absent in Jaina works. The Jainas and Vaiseṣikas agree in holding that an atom is beyond sense-perception.
KUNDAKUNDA ON ATOMIC INTERLINKING.-About atomic combination into aggregates Kundakunda gives the Jaina theory which is unique by itself. The primary atoms, we have seen, have taste, smell, colour and touch. It is this touch or contact whether cohesive or arid (snigdha or rūkṣa) that brings about the atomic combination. There are points or degrees (amsa) of cohesiveness or aridness which decide the compatibility or otherwise of two combining parties. A primary atom whether cohesive or arid forms an aggregate with another whether arid or cohesive on certain conditions: between the two combining parties there must be a difference of two degrees in the odd or even series of degrees of aridness or cohesiveness; but a paramānu possessing only one degree of aridness or cohesiveness, cannot
1 See Pañcästikäya 84 etc. and Prof. Chakravarti's notes thereon (SBJ III pp. 82 etc.); the gatha 85 has something like the Vaiseṣika doctrine in view, but the use of the word dhātu, for elements, is more a Buddhistic technical term than the Vaiseṣika one; See also Niyamasara, 25.
2 There are five kinds of tastes: bitter, sour, pungent, sweet and astringent, of which a paramāņu has only one. There are five colours: black, blue, yellow, white and red, of which a primary atom has only one. Smell is of two kinds: agreeable and disageeable; a paramāņu can be one or the other. There are eight kinds of contacts: soft and hard (mydu and kathina), heavy and light (guru and laghu), cold and hot (sita and uṣṇa) and cohesive and arid (snigdha and rukṣa, also rendered as smooth and rough). The first two pairs are not possible in the case of a paramāņu; of the remaining it will have two contacts., and the pairs might be arranged accordingly; a paramāņu can be cold and arid, cold and cohesive, hot and arid, and hot and cohesive (See Tattvärthasutra V, 23, with Bhagya and Sarvarthasiddhi, and also Pañcāstikāya 84-8)
3 The possibility of change by increase or decrease in the degrees of aridness or cohesiveness in an atom owing to internal and external causes (?) is also accepted (See Gōmmatasāra, Jivakanda gāthā 618).
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