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ATOM IN JAIN PHILOSOPHY 83 possesses a single colour, a single odour, a single taste and two touches It can be perceived only by its effects ie a single free paramānu is invisible not only to the naked eyes but also to any other physical instrument Its existence is to be inferred by the collective action and reaction of many paramānus Only the omniscient (kevalajñāni) and those who possess superlative visual intuition (paramāvadhi jñāni) can perceive and cognise the nature of a free paramanu 96
Although the four qualities are permanently possessed by a paramānu the intensity or the potency of the qualities do not remain constant A paramānu possessing one unit of blackness at any moment may sometimes later possess two, three or many units of blackness It follows from this that at any given moment there would be paramānus with different intensities of blackness etc In the same way there would be paramanus with various degrees of other qualities
Paramānu is the short form of drvya paramanu or
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96 Bhagvan Sūtra, 1818
97 Just as paramiānu is an infinitesimal indivisible unit of matter the Bhagavati Sūtra 20-5-12 enumerates a) Dravya paramāņu or pudgala paranānu-infinitesimal indivisible unit of matter
b) Kshetra paramāņu or Akāsa pradesh indivisiblc unit of space or space-point
c) Kāla pamamanu-indivisible unit of limc or time-point called samaya
d) Bhāra paramūnuor Guna-unit of intcnsity of sensuous qualities which are or 4 kinds v7 colour odour, laste and touch and which are sub-divided into 16
5 colours Black white blue red & yellow 2 odours Good smells and bad smells 5 tasics
Succi, bitter pungent acidic and asiningeni 4 touches Hot cold dry and unctuous
