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SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MATTER
others'. It is threefold, the past, the present and the future. In real time the conception of time is of primary importance, and the idea of the past, the present and the future is secondary. In conventional time, the idea of the past, the present and the future is of prime importance, and the idea of time is subordinate. For conventional time depends on the substances endowed with activity and on real time.
What are the special characteristics of matter ?
स्पर्शरसगन्धवर्णवन्तः पुद्गलाः 1 2311
Sparśarasagandhavarşavantaḥ pudgalāḥ (23) 23. The forms of matter are characterized by touch, taste, smell and colour.
What is touched or touching alone is touch. It is of eight kinds, namely soft, hard, heavy, light, cold, hot, smooth and rough. What is tasted or tasting alone is taste. It is of five kinds, bitter, sour, acidic, sweet and astringent. What is smelt or smelling alone is smell. It is of two kinds, pleasant smell and unpleasant smell. Colour is of five kinds, black, blue, red, white and yellow. The foregoing are the principal divisions. And the subdivisions of each of these may be numerable, innumerable and infinite. Those which possess touch, taste, smell and colour constitute matter. The suffix 'van' is used to denote permanent union. For instance, we speak of the (Indian) fig tree possessing milky juice. A question is raised. Under the fifth sutra, 'Things which have form (colour) constitute matter', it has been explained that form (colour) includes taste, smell and touch also. Thus the characteristics of matter have been established already. Hence this sutra is unnecessary. But this is untenable. The fourth sutra is, "The substances are eternal, fixed in number and non
1 This sentence may also be rendered thus. 'An activity, which is ascertained by another (the motion of the sun etc.) and which is the cause of determination of another (duration of karmas etc.), is conventionally called time'. This may be elaborated as follows. The instant etc., which are ascertained from the gradually increasing quantity of motion of the sun etc., and which are the cause of determination of the duration of karmas, the conditions of existence, etc. as numerable, innumerable, infinite instants and so on, constitute conventional time.' (Sce Rajavartika)
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