________________
148
Reals in the Jaina Metaphysics We are always to remember that an atom is absolutely simple, Niravayava. A gross or Sāvayava substance when combining with another may be supposed to have parts of it combined with the parts of the other. But in the case of the combination of simple substances, this supposition would be wrong. Simple substances combine because they have the capacity to combine. In this connection the Nyāya thinkers point out that Samyoga does not necessarily imply that the things in contact with each other must have parts. In the case of our perception, we talk of a contact between the soul and the mind, none of which has any parts. It is true that atoms combining with a particular given atom come from different directions of it and that thereby the given atom appears as if it has parts in its different directions. This is, however, a mere supposition, an imaginary conception helpful to our understanding of atomic combination. It is called 'Bhāgabhakti', a false idea that there are parts where in reality there are no parts. The real state of affairs however is that an atom is absolutely Niravayava, that its combination with another is due to its inherent capacity to combine and that the phenomena of atomic combination does not necessitate the supposition that atoms are constituted of parts.
NYAYA THEORY OF COMBINATION OF ATOMS
The Naiyāyika's point out that although the atoms are insensible, it is possible for their combination to produce a massive thing. The Vaibhāșika's held out that our experience of massiveness or Mahatva is based on a comparative estimate. One atom may be insensible; a combination of two atoms also may be insensible but a combination of many more atoms will give us the perception of a massive thing. Massiveness according to them does not pertain to the nature of the thing. We call a certain thing massive, as opposed to an insensuous substance because the former is found to have greater quantitative stuff than the latter. Mahatva or massiveness is thus different from Anutva or atomicness only in degree or quantity—not in kind and the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
