Scientific Secrets of Jainism

Author(s): Nandighoshvijay
Publisher: Research Institute of Scientific Secrets from Indian Oriental Scriptures Ahmedabad

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Possible solutions for such puzzles may be lying in these points : True that we cannot match all the scriptural or traditional data with that given by science, but, as we noted before, we certainly come across many facts that science discovered later, but were actually recorded in Jain scriptures. It may be same in the case of other statements. Science might discover them later on. Another possibility : Surely we face difficulty, discordance and discrepancies in many scriptural references. This may be due to the lost portions of scriptures and lost contexts. Language is a great hindrance in reaching to right meaning of words. In those days people preferred poetic language; afterwards the poetic narrations were taken to be bare facts. Thus understanding the scriptural data became difficult. In the first place, the seers and prophets were devoted to spiritual developement, they didn't bother to explain each and every thing in the physical world. So we can't find a complete picture of the universe and the objects in it. Of course they told much about this physical world, but with passing of time, decline of civilizations and due to other calamities much was lost. Then people used their imagination to complete the picture, and thus deviations and even alterations took place; therefore we now have a distorted and inconsistent image of the world in our sacred books and other old literature. Now time is ripe to unearth the facts from the ancient wisdom deposited in old scriptures and examine them in the light of science.
This task is up to not only followers of religions, lovers of ancient wisdom or students of philosophies, but up to scientists also. Because science is for mankind and religion also is for mankind. They are not apart like poles, but as close as two eyes which work with perfect co-ordination. To tell the truth, we can do without science, but not without religion. A scientist without religious attitude may create new Hiroshima and Nagasaki disasters. We need not only technology, but, over and above it, good character also. And character cannot be synthesized in laboratories. Only spiritual understanding can make a man, man. Religion is like eyes which see, whereas science is like feet which walk.
The process of combining both these seemingly opposite trends has now already started. Gone are the days when science took religion for mere superstitions and dogmas, and religious circles considered science an evil, rather a devil, out to distract people from the right path. The era of evaluation and assimilation of both the streams has now begun. This is why we happen to see books like present one. In Jain circles, the systematic study of science began relatively late. There are several books on the subject by Jain scholars, very few by Jain monks. Muni Nagarajji, Muni Abhayasagaiji, Muni Amarendravijayji and Muni Mahendrakumar Dvitiya'-these are the prominent names of Jain monks who have worked in this direction. In this series, the name of Muni Nandighoshvijayji is now added. He has studied science with open mind. His approach towards science is balanced and healthy, befiting to a follower of the Jainism, which has the principle of Syādvāda' (relative truth) at its base. He does not discard the findings of science which differ from Jain scriptural beliefs but tries to find out a ground, with regard to scriptural citations, to accommodate the findings of science. He does not fall prey to hasty