Scientific Foundations Of Jainism

SR No.: 022772
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: K V Mardia
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 146
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 16 MB

Page 43

HIERARCHY OF LIFE
between the various concentrations of life in plants. These are shown in Fig. 3.1. For example, onions are believed to have a more concentrated form of life than apples since one seed of an apple gives rise to thousands of apples, so the life gets sub-divided whereas an onion root gives only one onion in the process and, therefore, we can regard the life in an onion not 10-3 life-units but something like 10-2 life-units. This comment also applies to trees. Further, plants or dead flesh infested by innumerable micro-organisms will also have a higher degree of life units.
When some of the karmic matter is removed, then the next higher form of life appears in which the being has two senses, a body and a mouth/tongue. The two senses are touch and taste as it appears say, for example, in seashells, mussels, etc. We give these 2 x 10-1 lifeunits.
The next stage of higher life has, of course, three senses, where it has also a nose; that is, having the additional sense of smell, for
mple, an insect without eyes. We regard these as having 3 X 10-1 life-units. Further reduction of karmic matter leads to four-sensed beings which develop eyes or the sense of sight, for example, bees, flies, etc. These are assigned 4 X 10-1 life-units. Finally, we have beings with ears or a sense of hearing, for example, horses, camels, etc. These have five senses-touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing, i.e. they have a body, mouth, nose, eyes and ears. These are called fivesensed beings. Among the five-sensed beings is the first level of animal life where there is no sense of time, viz., what is past, what is present and what is future. These are given 5 life-units on the lifeaxis. After animal life, the next stage is the human body which has a sense of time or a high degree of coherence in addition to the five senses above. This class is very broad, and thus, for example, a criminal would receive a lower score along the life-axis than a humanitarian. For an average human, the base score of 100 life-units has been agreed so that a criminal may score only 10 life-units. This completes a description of the life-units along the life-axis in Fig. 3.1.
Some form of ascending scores can be connected to the idea of the spiritual advancement of individuals. These are shown in Fig. 3.2. At the first stage are the saints who are supposed to walk on the spiritual path with single-mindedness. Those at the second stage are those spiritual teachers who have experienced the truth. The third are the spiritual masters who practice what they preach, being the true masters. The fourth category are the perfect living beings who have conquered their inner enemies. The nominal life-units for these categories are 103, 105, 1010, 10100, respectively. Those in the final category are pure souls (liberated souls) which are a form of absolute