Soul Science Part 01

Author(s): Parasmal Agrawal
Publisher: Kundakunda Gyanpith

Page 23

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Vichar, etc.] and wrote prologue of 'Samayasara' (published from Kota) covering a short history of Jain scriptures with the sum and substance of Samayasara. It is worth mentioning over here that in the past century many great Jain scholars (Barrister C. R. Jain, J. L. Jaini, S. C. Ghoshal, Prof. S. A. Jain, Prof. A. Chakravarti, Prof. A. N. Upadhye, etc.) conjecturing the inevitable need of future had already translated into English Ratnakaranḍa Śrāvakācāra, Dravya Samgraha, Tattvärtha Sūtra, Sarvārtha Siddhi, Samayasāra, Pancāstikāya, Niyamasāra, Pravacanasāra, Puruşartha Siddhyupaya, Iṣtopadeśa, etc. I am happy to see this book on soul science as an extremely valuable addition as it explores various basic issues in a scientific and logical manner and presents the matter in very illustrated as well as concise form.
Another notable aspect of this book is the scientific background of Dr. Agrawal. He is not merely a scientist by his initial training but he has taught and pursued scientific research for about forty years. His published research papers in the top notch journals such as Physical Review, Journal of Chemical Physics, Tribology International, and his recent (2013) paper entitled 'Quantum Mechanics and Human Decision Making' published in the prestigious journal, Operations Research, speak a lot about his scientific experience and outlook.
Many persons think that the religion and the modern science both are opposite to one another and the science seems to reduce the importance of religion and vice versa. But if seen in the light of reasoned knowledge and logic, both appear to be inextricably inseparable. Religion if divorced from science will make people superstitious and blind followers. In this regard, Einstein's remark is worth remembering that the religion without science is blind and the science without religion is lame. Religion is not the name of some lifeless rituals only but it is the discipline of the soul with live rituals, which exonerates oneself from miseries and places the living being in the self-dependent happiness forever. In fact, there is no friend like the true knowledge and no enemy like a false knowledge about the Self.
Science is the name of reasoned knowledge. The modern science is based on sensory knowledge, axioms, and experimental observations. Without axioms, the development of science is not possible. One finds the same trend in the science of soul. The science of soul also needs axioms, logic, and experimental observations. For the spiritual science all events being observed and experienced by us can be considered as experimental observations. Preceded by 23 Tirthankara, the soul science taught by the last 24th Tirthamkara Mahaveer (599-527 B.C.) and his followers like Acārya Bhadrabahu, Dharsen, Pushpadant, Bhutbali,