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Contents of Physics -2: Sound, Electricity and Magnetism
: 355
mention this point. It is said to be eternal (ayonija ) form of taijasa, by them.
Dhavalā mentions an another term seemingly to be quite important. This is vidyuta-karana 47. It may have two meanings : (i) materials may be electrified and (ii) breaking away into the components of the composite - an indirect statement about electrolysis of today. This term belongs to 8th century A. D. which again reflects Jaina scholars deeper insight into the properties of natural forces. The book, however, does not exemplify the term.
The canons also indicate that the property of positivity or otherwise is characteristics of different atoms due to which they combine or produce electricity. Currently, electricity is taken as a flow of electric current for which a contact between two oppositely charged particles is necessary through a medium like wire. Every substance has its own electric nature which may be one of the two types - positive or negative and that is what it should be meant by the terms snigdha and rūkşa. There has not been any method of measuring these qualities in olden days. The touch was the only means to judge the qualities crudely. But even this qualitative picture is important as these qualities are indicated by numbers and this numerical strength has been said to be solely responsible for the binding capacity of different atoms or substances. This point has been detailed in an early chapter. On the whole, the Jaina canonical postulates about electricity are tabulated in the following Table 6 with current views.
The physicists do agree about the variety and energetic nature of electricity. 48 But they describe it wavicular rather than particulate as postulated in other cases of energies. Moreover, electricity is not now produced naturally in sky only, it can also be produced by men from different sources like coal, water, wind and atoms. The natural energy has never been of any use to mankind except indirectly for his farming, the electricity produced by man has been useful to him in many ways to
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