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108
The Samkhya-Yoga and the Jain Theories of Parinama
“Yes, Goyama ! it can be so said.
Can it be said, O Lord, that the Pudgala exists in the eternal present ? 'Yes Goyamā ! it can be so said'. 'Can it be said, O Lord !' that the Pudgala will exist in the endless, eternal future ?' Yes, Goyamā ! it can be so said'.3 8
III. 'Is it possible, O Lord, that a Pudgala, which may be arid
(at one moment) in the endless, eternal past, may become cohesive (at another moment)? - or both arid and cohesive at one and the same moment with reference to its different parts (deśas)? Again, is it possible, that it may undergo manifold varņa(colour) - pariņāmas, either naturally or by some extraneous agency (cf. commentary of Abhayabheda - on Futot), or (undergo) only one varna-pariņāma on the destruction of the previous (manifold) pariņāmas ?
“Yes, Goyama ! it is possible like that.39
As in the case of the Soul, the above passages point to the eternal and non-eternal aspects of poggala, from the standpoints of substance and modes respectively.
There is a passage in the Bh.Sū. 9.6.387 - which deals with these two aspects, eternal and non-eternal, with reference to loka or the universe as a whole. It is as follows :
'The world, O Jamāli, is eternal for at no time was it nonexistent, is non-existent, will be non-existent. It existed (in the past), exists (now), and will continue to exist (in future). It is persistent, fixed, eternal, imperishable, undecaying, steady and nitya. It is
38 Bh. Sú. 1.4.42. 39 Bh. Sū, 14.4.570.
