Living Systems in Jainism: A Scientific Study: 13.03 ►Matter in Jain Philosophy

Before we describe Jain cosmology, I briefly review the properties of matter, called Pudgalastikaya in Jainism, that are pertinent to our discussion. Pudgalastikaya is one of the six constituent dravyas (substances or realities) of the loka in Jainism and is the only substance that is sense-perceptible. The sense attributes of pudgala are colour, taste, smell and touch, which are the basis of its diversity of forms and structures. The smallest constituent of pudgala is paramanu; the other forms are its combinations. Pudgala is tangible reality within sensuous and super-sensuous experiences, in perceptible and imperceptible conditions. Pudgala is permanent, non-living, non-conscious, extensive, physical, corporeal and concrete, active, disintegrating and integrating, and changeable. It is characterized by origination, decay and permanence without giving up its essential nature.

Based on the sense qualities, the matter in nature is of three types:

1. Matter having one colour, one smell, one taste and two touches.
2. Matter having five colours, two smells, five tastes and four touches.
3. Matter having five colours, two smells, five tastes and eight touches.

Paramanu is the two-touch matter (pudgala); it has only one colour, one smell and one taste. In modern terminology, paramanu is a dynamic entity with a thermal state and either a positive (snigdha touch) or negative (ruksa touch) charge. So, the fundamental form of matter is energy in the form of an electric charge, with a thermal state. The four-touch pudgala comprise the subtle (suksama) class of matter, as aggregates of paramanus (skandha). This matter has five colours, two smells and five tastes. On the other hand, eight-touch matter constitutes the gross (badara) class of aggregates comprising energy and matter. These aggregates have five colours, two smells and five tastes. Mass is not a fundamental property of matter in Jainism. The weight (or mass) of the aggregate is said to relate to the light and heavy qualities of touch. The four-touch aggregates and paramanu are weight (mass)-less. Weight is a property ofeight-touch gross aggregate matter.

Vargana is another important concept to understand the nature of matter, particularly at the subtle level. Vargana has been defined as a pudgala aggregate made up of similar paramanus, and also as a cluster of paramanus. Gommatsara Jivakanda provides a classification of varganas on the basis of the number of paramanus present in the cluster. According to this classification, there are 23 main types of varganas found all over the loka (universe). The varganas fall into two broad categories: one with fourtouches and the other with eighttouches. The second to fourteenth order varganas are of the four-touch type and weightless. The sixteenth to twentythird order varganas are of the eight-touch type and have weight. The fifteenth order vargana falls between the two categories and its nature is uncertain.

The lower-order weightless varganas can be divided into two groups:

1. Associable varganas: varganas that associate with the soul and form various kinds of subtle bodies and other structures that assist the soul in its worldly functioning
2. Non-associable varganas: varganas that do not associate with the soul.

The higher-order varganas can be divided into three groups:

1. Varganas that arehelpful in the formation of the gross bodies of plants and small microorganisms (nigodas) belonging to the category of non-mobile beings (Sthavarajivas). The vargana that assists in the formation of plant bodies is comparable to sunlight (photons).
2. Permanent Nil (Sunya) Varganas. Detailed information about these varganas is not available in the scriptures.
3. Gross Matter (Mahaskandha) Vargana (GMV). This vargana is supposed to constitute all ordinary matter, whether visible or invisible, e.g. all electrons, protons, neutrons, gases, liquids, solids, etc., in the universe, including the bodies of mobile beings.