Jainism- how the universe is made?

 Jainism maintained that the universe is made up of two things that are matter (ajiva) and conscious energy (jiva) and both are real but relative and both are plural in nature and infinite and therefore they advocated the concept of many as the reality. The school maintain that this universe is made of two things in which the matter or the material is real as well as the energy of consciousness which is jiva or soul is also real but both are separate entities and independent realities.

For Jainism these two separate and independent entities of matter and conscious energy are infinite in the universe and both have nature of negative and positive and having uniqueness. Jainism maintained that it is not possible to know the reality of both matter and conscious energy as a whole but we do possess the capability to understand some of the qualities of these two things which are matter and consciousness energy.

The metaphysics of Jainism is a realistic and relativistic pluralism. This is the doctrine of manyness of reality (anek means many Anta means real). This school maintain that matter known as pudgal and spirits known as jiva are regarded as separate and independent realities. There are innumerable material atoms and innumerable individual souls which are all separately and independently real and each atom and each soul possess innumerable aspects of its own. A thing has got an infinite number of characteristics of its own and every object possesses innumerable positive and negative characters.  And therefore it is not possible for us ordinary people to know all the qualities of a thing; we can know only some qualities of something. The question is how we can know every perspective and all the aspects of a thing for that we have to become omniscient.

 

Basically the school of Jainism started with the word Jain that means who conqueror in terms of that conqueror his passions and desires. The school provided a vast knowledge on metaphysics as well as in epistemology and founder of moral order of this universe and ethical life of society and made the faith for practical purpose.

 

Now the Jainism believed that he who knows all the qualities of one thing can know all the qualities of all things and he who knows all the qualities of all things can  know all the qualities of one thing,

 Ek bhavah Sarvatha jina drstah sanre bhavah

Sarvatha tena drstah

The maintained that human knowledge is necessarily relative and limited and so are all our judgements.  The things has many characters and it exist independently is call substance or Draya. It persists in and through all attributes and modes. Substance is defined as that which possesses qualities and modes. Out of these innumerable qualities of a substance, some are permanent and essential while others are changing and accidental. The permanent are called attribute that is guna and changing are modes called prayaya. Substance and attributes are inseparable because the   attribute are permanent essence of the substance and cannot remain without it. But the modes are modification and are changing and accidental. Reality is a unity and difference or can be understand that reality is different and unity. From the point of view of substance, a thing is one and permanent and real but the modes it is man y and momentary and unreal.

Jainism, here become a theological mean and a bridge between orthodox schools and early Buddhism. Orthodox schools taught that the reality is what one, is which is permanent, and that is the real and in all means reality.  Whereas the early Buddhist had the perspective of reality is the change and many and therefore unreal. Jainism said that both the theories are the two sides of the same thing. Substance therefore is defined as that which possesses the three characters of production, destruction and permanence.

Utpadavyay, adhravvyasam , Yektamsat

Substance defiantly has changing essence and therefore is permanent but it also has its changing modes and therefore it origination and decay. To make mistake any one side and partial view as the whole truth is the committing the fallacy of Ekantavada.

 

The school worked hard to make the concept of substances understand and for them infinite character of substance is production, destruction and permanence. The whole universe is brought under these two everlasting uncreated, eternal and co-existing categories which are called jiva (the conscious energy and Ajiva (the matter energy)

 

Now what is conscious energy or jiva or soul or spirit for Jainism?  The school took the word jiva in the form of atman, soul and they are independent and pluralist form as what described by Leibnitz of Europe in monadology. The jiva or conscious energy is qualitatively alike and only quantitatively different and the whole universe is literary filled with them. For Jainism there are two types of jiva or conscious energy which is mukta means liberated and Banddha means bounded. The bounded are again divided into mobile like of animals and immobile like trees. Mobile jivas are divided in 4 categories in which the first is of two senses like worms, three senses like ants, four senses like bees and five senses like animals and human beings.

Now what is matter? For Jainism matter, space, motion, rest, time is included into substance and they all are independent substances that make and extend in space except time is the only such draviya or substance that has no extension in space.  Time does not extend in space and it is infinite and does not perceived but inferred from its characteristics which makes possible continuity. Time is modification and activity and ever now and new and even old and it is one and indivisible.

While space for Jainism is, infinite, eternal and imperceptible and it is inferred as the condition of extension. All substances except time have extension and extension is afforded only by space. Space itself is not extension but is is the locus of extension and there are two kinds of space in first in which motion is possible and contains all worlds where life and movement possible but the other is space of liberated soul where motion is not possible. Matter does not have consciousness. Atom is the smallest part of matter which cannot be further divided and matter possesses the qualities of colour, taste, smell and touch, sound is regarded not as a quality but only as a modification of matter.

 

The school went further and described that how we know this universe. For Jainism it is known by immediate (apraoskh) and mediate (paroksha) way. Immediate knowledge admit the relatively and are of three kinds including avadhi is clairvoyance   means an ability to perceive distant or hidden objects,  the other is manahaparyaya which is telepathy and the third is Kevala which is omniscience state that having infinite awareness, understanding and insight. The avdhi is within a particular are and up to a particular time and it cannot go beyond spatial and temporal limits while the manahaparyaya is direct knowledge basically of the thoughts of other but it is limited by spatial and temporal conditions. The both are direct knowledge in which senses do not help to grasp in mind. But Kevala knowledge is only and only acquired by liberated souls as well as such knowledge cannot be limited by space, time and by object and therefore Kevala is the true and final knowledge of the universe.

But the mediate knowledge depends on the process of thoughts in which the first is mati and also known as mind in which the knowledge is acquired by perception through our senses and also by inferences and by thinking. The second is Sutra which is knowledge by authorities and therefore both mediate knowledge methods are limited.

 Jainism also believes in wrong knowledge and they described it vastly to distinguish from right knowledge. For them, wrong knowledge is doubt, mistake and wrongly gathered knowledge.

Now Jainism also described knowledge and said that there are of two kinds in which the first is parmana means knowledge of a thing and the second is Naya or knowledge of a thing in its relation. Naya means standpoint of though from which we make a statement about a thing as all truth is relative to their standpoints. Partial knowledge of one of the innumerable aspect of a thing is called Naya knowledge. Similarly judgement based on this partial knowledge is also included in Naya knowledge. The school divided such knowledge into seven types.

 

The world of relativity

Jainism maintained that the reality is relativity and therefore knowledge is also relativity and can be understand by Syadvada or Sapta Bhangi Naya. To understand the truth the school adopted the dialectical method of seven steps or the theory of seven fold judgements. The world syad means probable or perhaps or may be and sometimes Syadvada is taken as theory of probability.

 

How can we grasp knowledge?  Jainism state through knowing the relativity only and reality is having infinite aspects in which all are relative and can know only some of the aspects of all our judgements