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154 Structure and Functions of Soul in Jainism
Conclusion
According to the Jaina theory of substance not only the soul but all the substances must have some extension, finite, infinite or atomic. Inextension does not imply negation of extension, for that would mean non-existence; but it means an extension of an infinitely small dimension. Mere subsistence cannot do. It is meaningless whithout presuming existence which is conceived in its four aspects, i.e., the structural, the functional the temporal and the spatial. Extension becomes a necessary accompaniment of existence. Variability of a soul's magnitude, which is perceived through the variability of the organism of the living beings, can be explained only by affirming extension of the soul.
The Jaina theory of the soul requires that the soul must be one substance and, at the same time, must be distinguishable in respect of its pradeśas. We are to see whether the Jaina has been able to combine the above two conceptions into one i.e., the conception of the soul. As a substance the soul is one, but the pradeśas are the divisions of the substance of the soul. If the soul units are admitted in the structure of the soul, it will become composite. The soul-units will have to be granted a status of distinct substances which will lead to the difficulty of the unity of consciousness. So the substance of the soul must be one and continuously extended. Then, as the Jaina must mean, the soul-units must be an ascription made with some standpoint in view. The soul-units are meant to measure the magnitude of the substance of the soul. We have seen that the soul's capacity for contraction and expansion leads to interpenetration of the soul-units. This means that the conception of the soul-units may also be taken as a measure of the density of the soul's substance. When the same soul is said to occupy organisms of varying magnitudes without any diminution from or addition to its substance, its density must be held to be varying. Dr. Umesh has pointed out that the soul of the Jaina has not been able to get rid of the material associations which the Jaina affirms by admitting
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