________________
84 Śramaṇa, Vol 57, No. 2/April-June 2006
I shall look at a few of the above issues, concentrating first on the concept of 'life', with a few examples (to serve as 'pointers') in the social, legal and medical fields. The issues are: "Should the traditional religions be aware of relevant advances in Scientific knowledge?" and "Whether new knowledge requires any rethinking/re-interpretation of old doctrines ?"
Jaina religion defines 'Ahimsa' through the words 'Jīva' (a) and 'Prana'; (T) for example,
“प्रमत्तयोगात् प्राणव्यपरोपणं हिंसा" (तत्त्वार्थसूत्र- ७ /१३)
The words are necessarily vague because of the enormous variety of 'living beings' and of the mental states of these living beings. [That is why any 'sūtra' (H) require explanations/interpretations (/)] I shall stick to the fundamentals and ignore whatever is available elsewhere in the religious tradition. (The first two issues impinge on traditional cosmogony/cosmology.) What is the universe (or the world) made of?
In ancient times it was imagined that everything was constituted by four or five 'elements':
Earth, Water, Air, Fire (Greek, Arab, Christian traditions) Earth, Water, Air, Fire, 'Sky' (Hindu traditions)
During the last two centuries, Science has discovered (and 'proved' in a certain sense) that there are nearly 102 'elements', out of which nearly 90 are 'stable'. These 'elements' are constructed out of "Proton, Neutron, Electron" which in turn are 'constructed' out of a few 'quarks' (which come in several 'flavours'); these discoveries are, respectively, nearly 100 and 30 years old. The most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen. All 'life' on the earth is 'carbon-based', and the other heavier elements (such as iron which is an essential part of human blood) are formed in 'large stars' which are recycled when these stars 'die'. [Thus, we are all made of star-dust.] Notice that all these 'discoveries' are based on purely mathematical theories; in fact, mathematics is the back-bone of
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
