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A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
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Bhagavana Mahāvīra said that the Dharmadravya is one. It pervades the entire universe. It is eternal. It has no colour, smell, nor touch and taste. It is the principle of motion by which matter moves. All the activities and movement of the jiva in both physiological and psychological sense like physical movement and mental states, are due to principle of motion. It has infinite number of pradesas (space points). It does not move although it is the principle of motion. It is indestructible. It is the principle by which the movement is possible although it does not contribute directly either in the material substance or as the energy which makes objects move. It is formless and therefore it has neither the attributes of the physical objects nor the attributes of mental states. Dharmadravya is one and whole and does not appear as parts. It pervades the entire universe and there is no place in the universe in which Dharmadraya is absent.
Movement (gati) is the characteristic which refers to the move
So we may say that 'Ether' is a something that is not a solid, nor liquid, nor gaseous, nor anything else which can be observed by us physically. Therefore, we may say that an absolute vaccum cannot be created, for Ether cannot be removed.
We get our knowledge of Ether from experiments by observing results and deducing facts. For example, if within the glass-vessel, mentioned above, we place a bell and cause it to ring, no sound of any kind reaches our ears. Therefore, we deduce that in the absence of air, sound does not exist, and thus, that sound must be due to vibration in the air.
Now let us place a radio transmitter inside the enclosure that is void of air. We find that radio signals are sent out exactly the same as when the transmitter was exposed to the air. So we are right in deducing that electro-magnetic waves or Radio-waves do not depend on air for their propagation that they are propagated through or by means of 'something' which remained inside the glass enclosure after the air had been exhausted. This something has been named 'Ether.'
We believe that Ether exists throughout all space of the universe; in the most remote region of the stars, and at the same time within the earth, and in the seemingly impossible small space which exists between the atoms of all matter. That is to say, Ether is everywhere; and that electromagnetic wave can be propagated everywhere.
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