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CO EXISTENCE AND RELATIVITY
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modes Mahavira argues that 'A' is 'A' as well as 'K' 'K' is 'K' as well as 'A'. 'A' can be 'K' and vice versa
A black-bee is black But it is something more than black It is yellow and blue and red and white also
Sugar is sweet But it is not sweet only It is bitter, sour, soury-bitter, and vitriolic also
A rose is fragrant But it is not merely scented It is odoriferous as well
Fire is hot But it is not hot only It is cold as well Snow is cold But it is not cold only It is hot as well Oil is cold But it is not cold only It is hot as well Ash is dry But it is not dry only It is greasy as well Butter is smooth But it is not smooth only It is rough as
well
Iron is hard But it is not hard only It is soft as well Cotton is light But it is not light only It is heavy as well Stone is heavy. But it is not heavy only It is light as well
The resultant modes lead us pronounce the black-bee as black, sugar as sweet, rose as fragrant, fire as hot, snow as cold, oil as greasy, ash as dry, butter as soft, iron as hard, cotton as light and stone as heavy If the latent mode recede as a latent one and vice versa, the black bee may appear white, sugar bitter, rose obnoxious, fire cold, snow hot, oil dry, ash greasy, butter hard, iron soft, cotton heavy and stone light
Blackness or whiteness, sweetness or bitterness, fragrance or odour, heat or cold, grease or dryness, softness or hardness, lightness or heaviness are modes Hence they are transitory and subject to change They are based upon the substratum of molecules These molecules are perennial The modes occur to these molecules Their existence does not reduce in any manner the molecular nature of the molecules
The apparently contradictory modes occur on the same substratum Hence the material world admits of co-existence and not contradiction The order of nature admits of no conflict Perceiving contradictions is only a play of our mind
Herr