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Matter (Pudgalastikaya or Pudgala) in Jain Philosophy



Author(s)

Narayan Lal Kachhara

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2016.04.005

Pudgalastikaya is one of the six constituent dravyas of loka in Jainism and is the only substance that is sense perceptible. The sense attributes of pudgala are colour, taste, smell, and touch properties which become the basis of its diversity of forms and structures. The smallest constituent of pudgala is paramanu; the other forms are its combinations. The combination of parmanus forms various states of the matter. The paper describes different types of combinations and modes, rules for combinations and properties of aggregates known as vargana. Some varganas associate with the soul and form various types of bodies of organisms and others exist as forms of matter in loka (universe). The paramanu defines the smallest units of energy, space, time, and sense quality of pudgala. Pudgala exists in visible and invisible forms but anything that is visible is definitely pudgala. Pudgala is classified in various ways; one of them is on the basis of touch property and there are pudgalas having two touches, four touches, and eight touches, each class having some specific character that differentiates them in respect of stability and motion. Pudgala is also classified as living, prayoga-parinat, and non-living, visrasa-parinat. The living matter existing as bodies of organisms exhibits some properties that are not found in non-living matter. Modern science has no such distinction which has become a cause of confusion in recognizing the existence of soul. The description of body remains incomplete without considering the presence of soul in the body. In modern terms, a paramanu is a vibrating and moving charge that is bosonic in character. The two-touch and four-touch pudgala do not appear to follow the speed limits prescribed by Special Theory of Relativity. Jain canonical works describe two types of motions sparshad type and asparshad type and these determine the motions of different class of pudgala and soul. Jain philosophy describes the dynamics and motion of parmanu in detail. The paper describes the Jain concepts of matter in detail and compares with the modern concepts to highlight the strength of Jain views. Modern science has explored the properties and behavior of matter in great detail but still there are many concepts that Jain philosophy has to offer.

Pudgala, matter, paramanu, dravya, charge, vargana (energy fields), subtle cosmos, motion