Philosophy In Jain Agams: Process of Hearing the sound

Words or sounds are the subject of auditory sense organs. Aggregates of atomic particles of sound get into contact with auditory sense organs. In the hearing zone, the sound is received when the atoms of sound get into contact with the units of soul present in the auditory senses.^[1] The sounds can be received only when the atoms of sound get into the contact with the souls units present in the auditory area, if and only if there lies no obstructing factors between the sound particles and the units of the soul.^[2] The obstructed and non-contacted sounds cannot be received.

There is a mention in Bhagavatī that both subtle and gross kinds of sounds can be heard.^[3] In this context these two words i.e. 'subtle' and 'gross' are used in a relative sense. The atomic material cluster of speech has only four kinds of touch, so they cannot be heard. But, when the words are produced from the vocal instrument of the speaker, then aggregates of infinite units make a compound and the sounds transform into aṣṭasparśī (having eight touches) aggregate. This aṣṭasparśī aggregate of sound can become the subject of auditory sense organs. Acharya Malaygiri while clarifying this relative view has explained that here aṇu (subtle) means that which has less number of units and gross means the possessor of more number of units.^[4] We can receive the vibrations of sound from upper, lower and lateral directions and from all the three modes of time of sound production i.e. beginning, end and intermediate.^[5] The time of reception of sound particles is antarmuhūrta to the maximum. Sound can be heard in the first instant of time, intermediate instants of time or during the last instant of time within that antarmuhūrta.^[6] Sounds have waves, which flow. One wave is produced, it moves to a particular distance and ends up at its finishing point. Similar process goes with the second, third and all other consequent waves. The beginning, intermediate and ending point of the sound waves can be caught. In the hearing zone, the sound is heard that moves in a particular pathway. If that path way is averted or reverted, then the sound waves cannot be heard. Sound waves coming from all the six directions can be heard.^[7] The cause behind this fact is that the mobile-beings always exist in trasanāḍī (a particular middle cylindrical area in the cosmos). All the living beings having the potency to speak are mobile-beings. They exist in trasanāḍī. The material clusters can be grasped from all the six directions in trasanāḍī.^[8]

Auditory sense organs are capable to perceive the sound, only when sound comes into the contact with it. Just as dust comes into contact with the body, atoms of sound touch the auditory organs and the sound is cognized. The aggregate of the sound atoms are subtle, massive and bhāvuka i.e. having the capacity of infusing the aggregate of atoms (inconsequence). So, they are perceived just by the touch of those atoms of sound with ears.^[9] Speaker speaks and the atoms of sound, crossing the series of space units in all the six directions, reach the end of the cosmic space in the first instant.^[10] The hearer, on the even axis, listens to the mixed sound. When the atomic aggregates of language are released from the speaker, they get mixed up with other atomic aggregates of speech and they are heard by the hearer. So, the hearer does not receive the originally spoken out sounds, he listens to the mixed sound. The hearer standing on intermediate axis listens through the other sensitized or vibrated atoms, rather than from the actually released atoms. The original sound released by the speaker is not mixed with the sound heard by the listener.^[11]

Beings having audārika (gross) vaikriya (protean) and āhāraka (astral) bodies do receive and release the atomic-cluster of sound (bhasā vargaṇa).^[12] The sound released by the speaker spread in the whole cosmos to the maximum.^[13] Within four instants (samaya), they spread into the whole cosmos.^[14] We find an elaborate description on the subject of speech in the āgama literature. There can be an independent research conducted on this topic.