Studies in Jainism

Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

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STUDIES IN JAINISM
hearing. The immobile beings are called microscopic organisms (sukṣma ekendriya jiva) having only one sense, viz., touch. These are said to contain in the earth, water, air, fire and plants. The characteristic of all these organisms is the possession of the vitalities, which are ten in number: the five senses, the three powers of the body, speech and mind, respiration, and the age (āyuḥ). Out of these, the four vitalities must be present in every living being, however low in the scale of beings, e.g., the tiniest, lowest amoeba possesses the sense of touch, the bodily power by which it moves, respiration, and the life-span. As we ascend the scale of beings, the vitalities grow till we reach the man with all the five senses, the three powers, respiration and the span of life.
Strange to say, that from the Jaina doctrine of microscopic being filling the whole universe, some scholars are led to believe that Jainism is very primitive since it believes "that nearly everything is possessed of a soul; not only have plants their own souls but particles of earth, cold water, fire and wind also."10 They call this belief of Jaina philosophers as animistic or hylozoistic. But a careful study of the Jaina scriptures shows that Jainism is not an animistic faith. Jaina philosophy does not teach that "everything from the solar system to the dew-drops has a soul," although the whole universe is packed up with minute beings imbued with a soul. In fact, if "there are souls even in the inorganic objects like metals and stones." what is the object of the Jaina metaphysics in making a distinction between the jiva and ajiva or cetana and acetana ?
"12
The division of living-matter (sacitta) and dead-matter (acitta), according to Jainism, is noteworthy in this connection. It is said that as long as a piece of rock has the vitalities and possesses the capacity of growing, it comes under the category of immobile organisms. But when this rock is taken out, it loses all the vitalities together with its capacity of growing, coming in contact with dissimilar objects
10. Vide Jacobi's Jaina Sutras, SBE, part II, p. xxxiii. 11. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, vol. I, p. 322. 12. Ibid., p. 322.