________________
34
Scientific Vision of Lord Mahāvīra
covered by the gods is less and the rest is more."
98
Thus, the universe is stated to be very spacious; in the east it is countless or innumerable crores and crores of leagues (yojanakoḍākoḍī); in the South it is countless crores and crores leagues, likewise it is in the West and in the North. Similarly with regard to the upper and lower regions it is countless crores and crores of leagues in length and breadth.'
99
The experiments made in the field of science also show that the vastness of the universe cannot be indicated with great consistency or accuracy. According to Stephen W. Hawking, the scientific theories that emerge to explicate the structural largeness of the cosmos are contradictory. He writes
"Today scientists describe the universe in terms of two basic partial theories-the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. They are the great intellectual achievements of the first half of this century. Einstein's general theory of relativity describes the force of gravity and the large scale structure of the universe, that is, the structure on scales from only a few miles to as large as a million million million million (1 with twenty-four zeros after it) miles, the size of the observable universe. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, deals with phenomenon on extremely small scales, such as a millionth of a millionth of an inch. Unfortunately, however, these two theories are known to be inconsistent with each other-they cannot both be correct. "100
The Stratification of the Cosmos
The Bh.S mentions the order of the universe in a well-confined manner. According to it, the universe is not chaos but it has a systematic and static universal order. As far as the structure is concerned the universe is surrounded by fourfold layers. Once the disciple Indrabhuti Gautama asked Mahāvīra "how many strata are there, O Lord! in the cosmos?" The answer was, "there are eight strata". The strata are as follows:
1. The air rests on space
2. The ocean rests on the air
3. The earth rests on the ocean (water)
4. The mobile and immobile creatures rest on the earth
5. The non-souls rest on the souls
6. The souls rest on karma
7. The non-souls are seized by the souls
8. The souls are seized by the karma."101
In this discussion eight strata have been described keeping the whole picture of the universe in view. The first four strata have been dealt with to
