Ajiva
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Ajiva (Sanskrit) is anything that has no soul or life, the polar opposite of "jīva" (soul). Because ajiva has no life, it does not accumulate karma and cannot die. Examples of ajiva include chairs, computers, paper, plastic, etc.
Five categories of Ajiva
In
Dharma-Astikaya
Dharmastikaya is formed from the two words: Dharma & Astikaya. Dharma here isn't referring to religion, but instead its referring to the medium of motion. Astikay itself is formed of two words: Asti & Kaya. Asti means space, body or mode and Kaya means collection. So Astikaya means a collection of spaces or regions. Dharmastikaya denotes the medium of motion for things in the universe. In the absence of this medium, living things (i.e. jiva) would not be able to move.
Adharma-Astikaya
Adharmastikaya is also formed from two words: Adharma & Astikaya. Adharma in this case means the medium of rest. In the absence of this medium, Living things or jiva would continuously move.
Ākāśa -Astikaya
The infinity of space, called ākāśa in Sanskrit, is divided by the Jain philosophy into two parts, namely, the lokākāśa (loka+ākāśa), that is the space occupied by the universe, and the alokākāśa (a not, and lokākāśa), the portion beyond the universe. The lokākāśa is the portion in which are to be found the remaining five substances, i.e., Jīvas, Matter, Time, Dharma and Adharma; but the alokākāśa is the region of pure space containing no other substance and lying stretched on all sides beyond bounds of the three worlds (the entire universe).[3] At the summit of the lokākāśa is the Siddhashila (abode of the liberated souls).[4]
Pudgala-Astikaya
The word
Kala
Kala refers to time that brings forth changes. Past, present, and future are the different modes of time and are measured in terms of years, months, days, hours, minutes or seconds. For practical purposes a second happens to be the finest measurement of time. Jainism however, recognizes a very small measurement of time known as samaya which is an infinitely small part of a second.
Kala (time) is infinite, but there are cycles (kalachakras) in it. Each cycle having two eras of equal duration described as the
Indivisible time = 1 Samaya (smallest unit of measurement)
Countless Samayas = 1 Avalika
16,777,216 Avalikas = 1 Muhurt (48 minutes)
30 Muhurtas = 1 day and night
15 Days and nights = 1 Paksha
2 Pakshas = 1 Month
12 Months = 1 Year
Countless years = 1 Palyopam
1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quintillion) Palyopams = 1 Sagaropam; one quintillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
1,000,000,000,000,000 Sagaropams = 1 Utsarpini or Avasarpini
1 Utsarpini or Avasarpini = 1 Kalchakra (One time cycle)
References
Citations
- ^ George 2008, p. 328.
- ISBN 81-208-0365-5, p.62
- ^ Jain, Champat Rai (1975). The Key Of Knowledge (Third ed.). New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow's Printers. pp. 518–520.
- ISBN 81-208-0365-5, p.64
- ^ Jaini 1998, p. 90.
- Umasvati, Tattvarthadhigama-sutra, v.23
- ISBN 81-208-1099-6, pp.159–60
Sources
- ISBN 978-1-56518-248-6
- ISBN 81-208-1578-5