Book Title: Theory of Atom in Jaina Philosophy
Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Agam and Sahitya Prakashan

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Page 134
________________ 128 THE JAINA PHILOSOPHY By further deduction of this principle of relativity of mass, Einstein concluded that energy has mass and disclosed a fundamental truth about physical reality Viz, matter and energy are not different elements as pictured by pre-relativity scientists - the former intert, tangible and characterised by a property called mass and the latter active, invisible and without mass He established that mass is simply concentrated energy In other words matter is energy and energy is matter He expresses the interchangeability of matter and energy by the most famous equation in history E = mc? It explains how radioactive substances are able to eject particles at enormous velocities for millions of years It reveals the magnitude of energy that slumbers in the nuclei of atoms Translated in concrete values it shows that one kgm of coal if converted entirely into energy would yield 25 billions kilowatt hours of electrical energy Inter-changeability of matter and energy explains the dual role of the electron as a unit of matter and a unit of electricity and the baffling interplay of matter and radiation waves and particles becomes more understandable The inter-changeability of matter and energy established by modern science is analogus with the Jain concepts of paryāya, pariņāma, hriyā etc, being inherent attributes of pudgalāstıkāya The energy of electromagnetic radiations and the particles ejected from radioactive substance are but two different paryāyas of the same attribute viz, krzyāyatva We shall have occasion to examine the point again while dealing with the nature of paramānu a little later Finally we come to the processes of Bandha (fusion) and Bheda (fission) which are the basis for the nomenclature of matter viz, pudgala These

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