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294 : Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
Table 13: Comparative Descriptions of Hindus and the Jainas. Description
Hindus
Jainas 1. Age of Universe Cycle 1015 yrs. 1077 yrs. 2. Deitification of Idols Simple pūjā Five-auspicated
Festival (Gaja
ratha ) 3. Cosmography
4-7 continents Innumerable
continents 4. Incarnations/Tirtharkaras 10/24
3x24 ( present,
past, future ) 5. Queens of a Cakravarti 16,000 96,000 6. Body-height ( Rşabhadeva ) -
800 metres 7. Age of Neminātha/Krsna 100 yrs. 1000 yrs. 8. Unit of Time
1/4-104 sec. 10-380-10-500 sec. 9. Unit of Length
10-4 cm. 106 or 10-10cm. 10. Prastha, Pr
16 palas 64 palas (ADS) 11. Human characters 11
18,000/84 lacs39 12. Monarch's possessions 40 -
1014 ploughs Chariots : 84 lacs Horses : 18 crores Soldiers : 48 crores
Cities : 75,000 Dr. Upadhye 38 has exclaimed similarly in his editorial in T. P. adding that canonical descriptions are not appealing to the scientific world in general. The twentieth century Jainists have a duty to improve the situation. If we wish to convert the mythological category into reliablity, one has to fix the canonical length and time units and other measures with a definite current value uniformly. Most probably, this may not be possible. In that case, we must not insist on their permanent truth on omniscient wordings. They must be taken in historical perspec-tive as an attractive mythology so common in all the systems of olden periods. A Khārvela, Pāțaliputra or Valabhi type council may also be a way out.
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