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THE JAINA TIME-CYCLE AND THE COSMIC CALENDAR
Muni Nandighosh Vijay
Since the development of his thinking faculty, man has been tirelessly trying to find solutions to the questions of the form and origin of the universe. Whether the attempts are spiritual or scientific, everyone ultimately wants to know the laws and secrets that governs. the universe. It is difficult to know the secrets with scientific methods. The great sages of the past, have known them with spiritual methods and have put them before us. But under the influence of the present times and the western civilization, we hesitate to believe them as to be true. The absolute truth is beyond the bounds of time and space. Time does not make even a scratch on it, let alone a deep mark. On the contrary, backed in the oven of time, absolute truth becomes very ripe. Such are the doctrines of Jainism, ripened by being baked in the oven of time. They have passed through various tests.
Since the origin of the branch of atomic physics and the branches establishing relations of time, space, matter and its energy, among various branches of science and since decades prior to it, the question of origion and destruction of the universe, and matteraccumulation of the universe has always been confusing and various theories have been put forth for them Of all these theories, the Big Bang Theory has got the greatest acceptance. Though the Jain religion partially believes in the Big-Bang-theory, it does not believe in the presentation that scientists make of it.
There is a great similarity between the duration of time of the origin of the sun. of the earth, of the living world, of human beings etc. following Big-Bang, as determined by Carl Segan according to the belief of scientists and the time-cycle mentioned in Jain scriptures. Though the durations are almost equal, the differences of incidents and circumstances are great. According to the Jain doctrine the sun, the earth, the living world or living beings and the human world or beings are not originated from nothing i.c, they are not newly created. But the modern science believes that they are born a new and in the evolution of the universe and world or earth, Tulsi-Prajña, Ladnun: Vol. 23 No. 4
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