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144 :: Structure and Functions of Soul in Jainism
substances which are measured by means of them. This measurement is expressed in terms which smell spatiality, and this is the only community between extension and space. A piece of matter is seen to occupy space. It means that what are called length, breadth and thickness belong to matter itself. In the same way if the soul is supposed to possess extension, extension must belong to the soul itself. Thus the theory of extension of the soul is not very much based on the theory of space. We are required to show that the features which extension implies are also seen in the structure of the soul. We may begin with extension in case of gross matter and go to its most highly attenuated forms. In case of the soul extension may be supposed to be subtler than that which could be conceived of the most attenuated form of matter. This is only a way of approach to the soul's extension and cannot give us an exact idea about it. Dealing with the Jaina view of extension it is observed: “It should be borne in mind, however, that a soul's occupying space simply means its presence in the different parts of space and not filling space like a body. A material body fills a part of space in such a way that while it is there, no matter can occupy it. But a soul's presence in a particular space does not prevent another soul's presence there; the two souls may be present at the same place, the Jainas point out, just as two lights can illumine the same area."! This distinction between the spiritual and the material extensions is only partially true as the Jaina holds that the capacity of offering resistance belongs only to a part of matter, but in the present context the above account may be taken to be a satisfactory one because the souls offer resistance neither to matter nor to other souls. By affirming extension both of the soul and matter the Jaina emphasizes the fact that extension is a necessary implication of a substance. An atom of matter is said to be unextended, but by inextension the Jaina does not mean the negation of space-occupation
1. Chatterjee and Datta: An Introduction to Indian Poilosophy, p. 107 2. Kundakunda: Pañcâstikāya, verse, p. 7
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