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· 348 : Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
be different in various Indian philosophies. The Nyāya-Vaiseșika school ( app. 300 B. C. ) presumes that the original sound produces a series of sounds in space in all directions like waves in water or concentric petals in flowers to be heard by various people at different distances until the sounds die out due to collisions with obstacles34. In contrast, the Jainas have a different mechanism based on their materialistic theory. They believe, when material collisions take place, sound particles are shot-off with differing velocities in all directions. These particles travel long distances coupled with their associations with air which also induces their motion. Of course, sound dies for the Jainas the Vaiseșika way. It has already been told that Jaina sounds may travel to the end of the universe 35 and their velocity may be sometimes faster than light despite their particles being larger. They may move in continuous or broken form and linearly, circularly or in curved line36.
The physicists believe that due to kinetic energy associated with sound, successive motions are produced in the medium in the form of longitudinal ( concentric flower petals ) or transverse ( ripples in water or air ) waves moving in all directions until receptors are available. Thus, sound energy is medium or air born during its propagation. This mechanism suggests an apparent equivalence with the Vaiseșika school with water wave theory. However, this should mean contradiction with Jaina view. The wavicular nature of energy suggest sound to be cluster of fine energy particles behaving like waves not explicitly expressed in canons. However, it could be inferred from this type of nature.
While the Vaišesikas do not mention about the velocity of sound, the Jainas have made two statements about it as pointed earlier. The first of them may be acceptable to the scientists of today ( which is regarding the limit of motion ). The second postulate of faster than light velocity seems to be an speculation looking to the fact that its velocity in air is 330m/ sec. in comparison to 3 x 108 m/sec. for light. Secondly, it
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