Dr. N.L. Kachhara
The creation of the universe has always been an object of human curiosity and various theories have been proposed for it. Some Indian philosophies advocate that Brahman is the Creator, but the scientific view is opposed to this kind of theory. Jain philosophy also does not accept the existence of any Creator; according to Jainism, the universe (loka) is beginningless and endless. The most widely accepted theory of science is the Big Bang Theory, which states that the universe came into existence with an explosion. According to this theory, the universe is continuously expanding. A theory of an oscillating universe has also been proposed, which anticipates a Big Crunch in which the universe will reduce to a dense mass from which a Big Bang will again take place. This theorysupports a beginninglessand endless universe, since the Big Bang and Big Crunch would repeat in a cyclic manner. The Second Law of thermodynamics predicts a heat death of the universe.
In this chapter, I examine the fate of the universe in the light of scientific knowledge and Jain philosophy. Scientific theories of the universe consider only matter and do not take account of the living systems. Without including the existence of the soul, the fate of organisms and hence the fate of the universe cannot be predicted successfully. This chapter is an attemptto examine the fate of the universe while considering both matter and soul.
