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Mahavira said: 'O Gautama, if the principle of motion were not to operate, where would be the motion? Who would come and who would go? How could the waves of the sound travel? How could eyelids open? Who would talk and who could move about? The whole world would have remained stationary. Dharmastikaaya is the means to all the moving things."
Gautama asked, 'Bhagavan! What is the use of the Adharmastikaaya for the
Jivas?'
Mahavira said, 'O Gautama, if the Adharmastikaaya were not to operate as the principle of rest who would stand and who would sit? Who would sleep? Who could concentrate? Who could remain silent? Who can remain inactive? Who could keep their eyelids steady? The world would have constant movement without end. All that is steady and at rest is due to the principle of rest, Adharma' (Devendra Muni 1983: pp. 129-30).
Adharmastikaaya
As dharmaastikaaya is necessary for movement in the world, so adharmaastikaaya is necessary for the static state of objects. It is the medium of rest. Like dharma, adharma also pervades the entire universe. It is whole and non-discrete, and has infinite number of space-points. It enables jiva and pudgala to experience a state of rest, steadiness and a static existence. It is formless, and co-exists with dharmaastikaaya though the functions of both are contrary to each other.
Aakaastikaaya
The substance that accommodates living substance, matter, the media of motion and rest, and time, is called space (aakaasa). It is the location of all substances, which is illustrated, in the following dialogue, also from the Bhagvati Sutra, between Gautama and Mahavira:
Gautama asked Mahavira: 'Bhagavan! What is the use of the substance of space for living and non-living things?"
Mahavira said: 'O Gautama, if space were not there, where would living beings be? Where would the media of motion and rest pervade? Where would time extend? Where would the movement of matter be possible? The whole world would be without foundation' (Devendra Muni 1983: p.132).'
It is empty space, which accommodates both in jiva and ajiva. It is all pervading, infinite, formless and inactive and has infinite space-points. It is divided into two parts: occupied space and unoccupied space. It is only an optical illusion, dust or water in the atmosphere, which allows us see the ostensible phenomena of coloured sky and the rainbow.
Occupied space has the media of motion and rest; these are absent in unoccupied space, hence no jiva or ajiva can move into unoccupied space. Space is singular and continuous substance without division.
The Jain scriptures have explained how heavy substances like the Earth exist in space: the Earth rests on solidified water which rests on heavy air; heavy air rests on thin air and that again rests in space. The medium of rest helps the macroscopic matter of the Earth to remain in place.
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