________________
CHAPTER 7
DHARMA AND ETHER
The ancient Jain thinkers had conceived the existence of a substance which they called DHARMA in the form of a passive medium of motion for soul and atoms (1e matter). Thousands of years later nearly 200 years ago, the scientists also conceived the existence of 'ether' to explain the theory of motion Both, the 'Dharma' and the 'ether' inspite of being the mediums of motion were different from each other regarding the very definition of their nature. Ho the ether hypothesised by the advancing moder. science, can be identified with the ancient Substanc Dharma of the philosophical system, is the subject of this essay Dharma substance is known as Dharma The Dharma Element
Lord Mahavira, elucidating the nature of the or Dharmastıkaya in the Jain Scriptures. universe said, "The universe is composed of six sub stances, viz, The Adharma, The Space, The Time The Matter and The Soul Another question was "What is a substance? Defining the substance he gav the answer, "The aggregate of 'the attributes is substance". Hence, it is clear that the word 'Dharma
1 Uttiadhyayan Sutia 287 2 Ibid, 28 6
