Theories Of Parinama

Author(s): Indukala H Jhaveri
Publisher: Gujarat University

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Other topics related to Pariņāma
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attempt to combine in one entity the divergent ideas of One and Many, Permanence and Change.
We find a new development in the search of the first principle in the Atharva-Veda in the conception of Kāla. This Kāla which is viewed as movement on the analogy of a horse is the creative principle of the universe. This is a distinct advance in the philo. sophy of change.
In the Brāhmaṇas Prajāpati is firmly established as the creator of the world. In the identification of Yajña, universe and Prajāpati, we see the assumption of a world-ground which not only provides the material for world phenomena but also the energy and agency which bring forth and preside over the world-phenomena. In some portions of the earlier Upanişad, 28 we find the thinkers still struggling with the 'dvandvas' (opposites) of earlier thinkers.
The result of this diverse thinking seems to be reflected in the Vedānga, viz. the Nirukta. In its discussion of the six bhavavikāras, we find bhāva or kriya as such, analysed and given precise momenclature as jāyate, asti, viparinamate, vardhate, apakșiyate and vinaśyati. Of these 'vipariņamate' deserves special notice because it is a clear enunciation of the principle of Permanencein-change which, as we see, governs all later Pariņāma-thinking.
The Upanişads, as a whole, show a clear tendency towards "Sentient Monism which seems to take two forms. One regards multiplicity and change as real - a precursor of the philosophy of the Svetāśvatara Up., of the different schools of Sāmkhya mentioned in the Mahabhārata, of the creationist theories of the Smộtis and Purāņas, of Sāmkhya in the Caraka and of the Visiştādvaita of Ramānuja which all unanimously uphold the theory of Pariņāma, whatever may be the other divergences regarding the nature of the first principle. The other form is that of Yājñavalkya who seems to regard all change and diversity (faxraera) as chimérical - a precursor- of Gaudapāda and Šamkarācārya. 23 Chā. Up. VI. 2.-44 and Taittiriya Up. II. 7