The Enigma Of The Universe

The questions regarding the nature, shape, size and age of the Universe, the reality and relativity of space & time, the subjectivity and objectivity of the physical world and many more such aspects of the Universe have made it an intricate enigma. The views of Jain philosophy in particular and the western philosophers in general have been elaborately discussed in the book, together with those of the scientists, particularly Einstein, Newton, Heisenberg, Eddington, Sir James Jeans, George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, Jayant Narlikar etc. and critically examined to present an acceptable solution to the enigma of the universe.

The Jain philosophy which is believed to be at least 2500 years old has a rich heritage of mathematical description in the ancient canonical texts. Especially, the computation of macro and micro space-time units including rajju, samaya, āvalikā, palyopama, sāgaropama etc. and of the volume of the universe as 343 cubic rajjus are made by applying modern mathematical methods. New interpretations have been made so as to resolve differences in the Shvetambara and Digambara traditions. Parti-cularly, the shape of the universe as suggested by Acharya Virasena, the Veteran mathematician of 8th Century A. D. is re­examined through the application of integral calculus and the exact shape of the universe (loka) has been found out. Incidentally, the numerals running in multitude of digits have been mathematically computed through the geometrical series. A detailed mathematical discussion of innumerable and infinite numbers is an innovative approach in the whole history of mathematics. In the same way, some new ideas like "quantization of time", "superliminal speeds of the ultimate atoms" "massless matter" and "creation of new matter" have been hypothetically presented by the learned author. In nutshell, the book is a unique treatise on Jain mathematics and cosmology.

Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar

The Enigma Of The Universe