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Nagin J. Shah
then it being present in aloka (100-Universe) also the division of loka and aloka would disappear, the loka (Universe) would dissipate, the atoms would disperse in the infiojte space, they would be very far from one another, they would hardly come in contact with one another to form material bodies,17
Regarding the capacity of akaśa to contain substances or their instan. ces, one should note that those that obstruct one another cannot be contained in the same portion of space whereas those that do not obstruct one another can be contained in the same portion of space. Though space glveg room to all substances or their instances, it never contains the two mutually obstructing things in the same portion.
4. Units of Space (ākāśa-pradeśas) A primary indivisible atom of matter is the ultimate unit of matter, And the space occupied by a material atom is the ultimate unit of space. It is called pradeśa (space-point),18 Though material atom is physically indivisible, it is amenable to mental division because it possesses ananta attributes or modes. As these modes or parts of a material atom are inseparable from it and can only be mentally abstracted from it, they are never found pbysically discrete in space. So, a part of a material atom cannot serve as the defining measure of the unit of space. The physically indivisible unit of matter, viz. atom being discrete and concrete (as opposed to its abstracted part) serves as a defining measure of the unit of space.
Though akaśa does never accommodate two material bodies in the same spacepoints at a time, it, under certain conditions, can accommodate two upto ananta material atoms in one and the same spacepoint at a timelo. This pbenomenon becomes possible because material atoms in their subtle states, are conceived as mutually non-obstructive 20 Again, this phenomenon definitely proves the fact that a material atom is subtler than a spacepoint 21
Akuša has ananta spacepoints.22 But this number ananta is fixed in the sense that there is no possibility of increase or decrease of even a sin. gle spacepoint.
17 जदि हवदि गमणहेदू आगास ठाणकारणं तेसिं । पसजदि अलोगहाणी लोगस्स य अंत
परिवुड्डि ।। पञ्चास्तिकाय, १४ , 18 वक्ष्यमाणलक्षणः परमाणुः, स यावति क्षेत्रे व्यवतिष्ठते स प्रदेश इति व्यवहियते । सर्वार्थ
Paris, 4. 19 तस्मादेकस्मिन्नपि प्रदेशे अनन्तानन्तानामवस्थानं न विरुध्यते । सर्वार्थसिद्धि, ५. १० 20 Hiaat, . Le 21 Brutaleta (ITÀCI.) Bv 22 Bereziat: 1 atalea, 4.
