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160 Śramaņa, Vol 57, No. 3-4/July-December 2006
the non-sentient principle; jīva is constituted of sentiency and manifestation of consciousness; ajīva is insentient, and the foremost of this class is matter."
10
The classification of dravya into two kinds, jīva and ajīva is a basic tenet of Jaina ontology. Moreover, ajīva is a general term under which five further dravyas are referred to: pudgala, dharma, adharma, ākāśa and kāla. Since jīva is the only sentient principle among the dravyas, it alone can 'know' the others. Kundakunda specifically mentions pudgala as the foremost among the ajīvadravyas, indicating perhaps that it deserves to be noted in connection with guna and paryāya. In any case, pudgala-dravya features as one of the most important ontological categories insofar as it is pudgala that becomes transformed into karman which hinders, restricts or distorts the manifestation or operation (upayoga) of consciousness intrinsic to the nature o jīva. One can ask in this context whether there is an implicit distinction between the intrinsic or essential nature (svabhāva) of a dravya and its guņa (and paryaya). This point will be taken up below.
The question of the permanent and eternal existence of dravya is of fundamental significance to its essential nature, despite its apparent change and destruction. In fact, origination, permanence and destruction of a particular dravya can only take place in the context of a particular dravya itself, paradoxical as this may sound. In Kundakunda's own words :
na bhavo bhanga-hīno bhango vā nāsti saṁbhava-vihīnaḥ/ utpado'pi ca bhango na vină dhrauvyeṇā-artheņa // PrSṬikā II, 8
There can be no origination without destruction, nor is there destruction without origination; origination and destruction are not possible in the absence of permanent substantiality.
The key to understanding the occurrence of change on the basis of substantiality is the recognition of the distinction between paryāya and dravya, which together with guna are inextricably
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