Contribution of Jain Acharyas to Science
”’N. L. Jain”’
There are two branches of Science :
| (a) Physical and abstract and | (b) Metaphysical. |
The first is related with physical world and its observable phenomena, and the second is related with inner or spiritual world and its experiential or self-realisational phenomena. However, the general people take `Scirnce’ in terms of physical phenomena only. Nevertheless, the Jaina Acharyas from fourth-fifth BCE, have dealt with both kinds of science.
There are many branches of physical seience like chemistry, physics, biology (botany and zoology), food science, mathematics, cosmology and geography, astronomy and astrology, inonography, civil engineering and the like. Both the Svetambara and Digambara texts deal with these topics-first in stray manner in pre-exposition and, then, in specialized manner in post-exposition era starting from first century C. E.
There has been some gap of about 8 – 9 centuries for books on scientific topics except medicine. However, recently some scholars have started many comparative and original studies in various fields in current times.
When one looks cursorily in the vast Jaina literature, it is observed that it has approximately one-third of the contents on physical science. In fact, the acharyas could not move the householders on spiritual path without dealing with the visible physical phenomena. N. L. Jain has shown that, on consolidation, the 72 traditional arts of men and 64 arts of women involve nearly 35 – 38 % current departments and 140-191 subjects. Of course, many of them have now gone historical.
Scientific Way for Acquirement of Knowlede
The Svetambara scriptures and Dihambara pro-canons and texts indicate that the knowledge of the physical world is acquired through scriptures and sensory knowledge. They point out four steps of apprehension, speculation, judgment and theorization and record akin to the currnet scientific methods of experiment, observation, analysis and conclusion.
The Jaina Acaryas have studied the living and non-living world on applying these steps. As their era was pre-instrumental, one finds many discrepancies there with respect to currnet knowledge. But as the knowledge grows with times, our earlier knowledge should be taken with historical perspective. Further, this attitude leads one to refute the concept of non modifiability of religious precepts in comparison to science. Many acaryas have contributed to various branches of science under review here.
Chemistry
It is just unfortunate that no book separately on chemistry or physics is written by post-exposition Acaryas like books on mathematics etc., most canonical, pro-canonical and later books have ample descriptions about chemical principles and practices. A summary only could be given here per chance due to their lesser practical utility in comparison.
Sthananga Sutra, Virasena and Basunandi (10th century CE) mention `Rasayana’ as one of the eight-fold component of indigenous medicines to indicate medicine, toxicology, foods and aphrodisiacology. Jaina has mentioned ten meanings of the word `rasa’ indicating its physical and psychical meanings of feeling of pleasure and taste or modification.
One does not know when the hylozoist Jainas have admitted the existence of non living entity, but Sayymbhava states the non-livingness due to weapons operation detailed in Avasyaka-niryukti.
The current chemistry deals mainly with non-living entities called pudgala or mallergy in general. The Svetambara Agamas contain this word about 350 times dealing with its basic (atomic) structure, atomic and their nature, theory of atoms combination, various aggregates and karmology.
These are described in almost all the scriptures and post scriptural texts. The Digambara texts also have the above descriptions by Kundakunda. Umasvati Pujyapada, Akalanka, Vidyananda, Padmanandi (10th Century CE) and others.
Accordingly, the substances has two constituents,
(a) Ultimate atoms or atoms and
(b) aggregates or skandhas which include physical mixftures and compounds. The atoms are said to be indivisible, indestructible along with many other properties which our senses are unableto perceive.
Later Aryaraksita in his Anuyogdvara and Padmanandi in his Jambuddvipa pannti samgano has two-foldly classified them
(1) Ultimate or ideal atom (massless-energy) and
(2) real atom.
According to Bhagavati, they may be fourtouch ones and eight touch (matter) ones. Akalanka normally states tham as eight touch only with five properties. The scientific (now divisible) atom has been equated to real atom by current Jaina scholaras like Muni Mahendra Kumar, N. L. Jain and others.
This has made many complex issues solved in current days. Yativrsabha of Triloka Prajnapti has given the size of real atom as equivalent to —10-13 cm. combinations of physical properties like touch, taste, colour and smell which are not found in other Digambara scriptures.
The atoms are said to be active with a minimum speed of one space point and a maximum speed of the end of the Universe per unit Samaya. No normal speed are mentioned. The atoms have positive and negative charges on the basis of which they combine with each other accoring to some rules whose explanations are different in many texts.
Puspadanta, Bhutabali, Kundakunda and Umasvati have taken them in gross form while Pujyapada explains them on the basis of electrical charges. Bhagvati mentioned a specific adhesive force in them for bonding.
All acarayas have stated atoms to be formed by the process of division. They may be causes to form aggregares. These properties have been admitted upto about Amriticandra’s time of tenth century C. E. with no change afterwards.
The aggregates are formed by three methods
| (1) combinations of atoms or aggregares | (2) dissociation of aggregates and |
(3) mixed process. |
They may be senseperceptible or otherwise. Nemicandracaryas states that atoms in aggregates or molecules are moving and they lead one to guess the existence of atoms. Kundakunda classified them six-foldly involving solids, liquids, gases, energies, fine and extra-fine forms. Jaina has pointed out some discrepancy in it because of the criteria of sense of sight perceptibility. The Svetambara scriptures have given details of aggregate upto 1786in Bhagavati.
The aggregates have also been classified in 8 or 23 on the basis of groups of atoms contained in them (called Variforms or Varganas). Arya syama of Prajnapand has given 530 types of aggregate classifications on the intensity of their colour etc. All these aggregate classifications belong of pre-Christian or early Christian era where no changes have been observed. Many of these classifications are not found in Digambara texts.
Many texts mention four types of aggregates in the form of earth , water fire and air. The early scriptures mention 36-48 earths including 6 metals, 10 chemical compounds, and 20 gems and jewels. There have been addition in their counts from time to time. In many places, metallurgy of gold and lead etc. has also been given Bhagavati, Jivabhigama, Prajnapana, Mulacara, Tattvarthsara etc. describe them.
Prajnapana gives 17 kinds of water in comparison to other texts. There is mention of purfication or softening of water by Kotaka nuts. Fermented waters have also been mentioned. There are also mentions of 21 kinds of aclhohals. The solids have circular shape while the liquids have spherical shape.
In comparison to Mulacara, Prajnaana again leads in mentioning 19 types of air including exhale-gas carbon dioxide. No other gases of today are mentioned.
The fire has 6-12 vatieties including the different forms of energy like electricity etc.
Many physical and chemical processes and materials are mentioned by Acaryas from the begining up to approximatelt welfth century illustrating the Jinistic principles through them for common men. Jaina has collected 18 physical, 8 chemical and 3 undefined systems illustrated by canons, Pujyapada, Akalanka, kundakunda and others.
It is pointed out that no rules apply for physical combinations, but chemical ones occur due to some rules, However, there is no current type of mechanism in early or later literature.
The karmology is one of the important topic of jinistic literature according to which.
Soul + karma = worldly being
worldy being – karma = salvated soul.
The important point of initial combination of soul (pure) and karma cannot be responded properly, because of the non-tangible and tangible natures. However, the worldly beings are preceptibly tangible and karmas even the passions are also mattergic and charged, hence they could combine and dissociate. Two charged articles can combine.
This bonding may be loose under a-passioned activities and tight under passioned activities. However, the nature of this combination is not clear in literature. Due to its iso thermal nature and physical dissociability through meditation etc. it could have a physicochemical bond or combination.
Currently, Jaina tried to attend to this problems. Of course, vows, austerities and meditation etc. serve as catalyst or instrumental factors in their dissociation.
Physics
Physics deals with general properties, forces or energies like heat, light etc. of nature and associated with fine and gross matter. There has been keen curiosity about them in non-experimental but intuitional canocical period.
- The scripturist Acaryas, Unasvami, Aryaraksita Devvacaka (5th CE).
- Yativrsabha (5-6th CE), Akalanka,
- (8th CE) and Nemichandra (10th CE) have dealt with natural and derived units of mass, volume, time and length in olden periods.
Muni Mahendra, N. L. Jain, Chandan Muni, L. C. Jain. S. S. Lishk. Anupam Jain and A. K. Jain have made an attempt to equate them in current scientific units. Akalanka has pointed out there are worldly measures and para-worldly measures. The ADS (Anuyogadvara Sutra) mentions stsndard or basic and derived measures. The table given below gives the minimum and maximum values of different kinds of units.
(1) Mass Units Value
| 1. Gurha | (min.) 0.12 lg |
| 2. Svarn | (max.) 9.68 g |
| 3. Ardhakarsa | (min.) 5.8 g |
| 4. Bhara | 9. 7-44 kg |
| 5. Yaha | 2.60q |
(2) Volume units Value
| 1. Catus Sasthika | (min.) 46.40 ml. |
| 2. Mani | 2.9691 |
(3) Practical Length Units
| 1. Size of real atom | 10-8—10-13 cm. |
| 2. Utsedhangula, (U. A.) | 1.70 cm. |
| 3. Yojana | 8 miles = 13.28 km. |
| 4. Rajju | 2.4 x 1010 km |
(4) Time Units
| 1. Avalika | (10-180 -10-248 sce) or 10-4 sec |
| 2. Yuga | 5 yrs. |
| 3. Sirsa-Prahelika | (max.) 8436 x 10180 |
The equivalent values in current units have been calculated on the basis of the stages, which correspond to the current traditional units. It must, however, be noted that most of the smallest and largest units have gone historical. Further, Jaina has shown by calculation that the many canonical dimensions, when converted in current value, seem discrepant in view of our current knowledge.
Energies of Heat, Light, Electricity, Sound and Magnetism
The Jainas have believed in six-embodied beings including fire-bodied beings. While Hindus took the natural energies as gods, the Jainas called them as living beings with lowest form of livingness. This doctrine still continues. Even in 16th CE.
Gunuratnu, stated that heat and light are not only living, but they are indicators of livingness. Prajnapana, Mulacara, Jivabhigam, Tattvartha Sara etc. have stated their manifold classes.
However, many early Jain canons and scholars like Umasvami (Umasvati), Battakera and other later ones have classified atapa (heat) and Udyata, Shadow, Darkness,. and Lustre, (all forms of light) as modes of mattergy and, therefore, non-living.
We do not find any mention about this change from their livingness to non-livingness. Muni Mahendra indicates that the Jaina concepts on physics represent Newtonian era.
The Scriptures and texts contain many synonyms for heat which function to burn, cook, digest foods, bake bricks, change of states and sweating etc.
Despite scriptural livingness, we may presume it as non-living by its denaturation through long passage from sun to us. Bhagavati mentions it to be material in the fine corpuscular (or invisible aggregatal form, which enters the iron when it is heated.
The variform classification of Nemichandra (11th Century) has given its dimensions as finer than sound, earth and water variforms. Being mettergy, it has four attributes and Pujyapada classifies it four-foldly. It is reduced from wood, friction or naturally.
Heat has been manifoldly classified on the basis of its sources. The Jaina texts have theoretical points only. There are no quantitative or transmission description about it.
The sound has been described in great detail in scriptures as well as later texts up to 12th Century. It is a 4-touch fine and gross mattergic non-living entity produced by conjunction and dis-junction of material bodies and vibrations in vocal chords.
Jain has pointed our 20 properties of sound including its variformal nature, energy-form, masslessness, ear-perceptibility, four-fold classification, successive reception, spliting and obstruction and motion etc. It is called lanhuage while speaking.
It has a shape of thunderbolt. The motion has been mentioned depending on intensity. The descriptions are, however, qualitative rather than quantitative. Jaina has comparatively studied the cenonical and scientific properties of sound.
While Uttaradhyayan, Thanam and Prajnapana mention the term `vidyut’ (Electice lightning), Ulka (meteritic falls and Tadit under the fire-bodies classes. It is natural and produced due to positive and nehative charges as per pujyapada.
This is the most important contribution of Jaina seers. In fact, the scriptural terms represent different forms of effects of electricity rather than its origin. However, all of them are stated as corpuscular or atomic. It is a natural phenomenon. It could be transformed in different form of energy.
Ayas-kani or mahnet (iron-loving) was known in early days, which could attract iron (maximum) and some other metals without touching. The covered magnet does not do so. It has a non-contactile nature as per Prabhacandra. Only some natural magnets are mentioned in canons.
There are no other descriptions about magnetism. It is highly macroscopic in all these cases.
Medical Science
The indigenous medical sciences are known as Pranavaya or later Ayurveda (Science of Longevity or Virality) in Jaina literature. It is pre-Parsvana in origin as it forms the 12th pre-canon under the 12 th canon of Drstivada.
It is a quatrained eight-fold system from the very beginning continuing up to current times. The Thanam mentions it as one of the subjects of proficiency even for monks (of course not for public practice) along with ash-thread therapy and physiotherapy.
Many scriptural texts like Thanam, Jnata, Vipakasutra, Acara, Bhagwati, Samavao mention about application of different medicines in 16-64 different diseases. Akalanka has extended its scope to include demonology. toxicology and yogic system in it. Ugraditya also concurs with this view. The recommended diet is also similar.
Ugraditya was living in the golden period of Rastrakutas in 9th century A. D. He was a doctor of indigenous medicine and vegetarian or natural mineral medications and diets, he has authored an immortal 25-chaptered book named Kalyanakaraka (Harbinger of Welfare) which gives the status of medical science in his era. Pujyapada had developed flower-based medications.
Later mastered and stnthetic medicines were also developed. This science is still a living science with Bhatnagar, Shah, and R. K. Jain mentioning about 250 books on different aspects between 1200-1960 CE. Ugraditya has also mentioned many flower-based medicines.
The Jinistic medical science has eight main branches mentioned in up to tenth century books. They are
| (1) pediatrics | (5) Toxicology |
| (2) Surgery and mid-wifery | (6) Ash-thread therapy to demonology |
| (3) ENTE | (7) Geriatries |
| (4) Internal and external medicine | (8) Rejuvenation. |
Though anatomy and physiology do not find mention here. but they could be included in surgery and other related subjects. If is also clear from the quantitative descriptions of Tandula-veyaliya (T. V.) and Bhagavati Aradhana (B.D.).
The Ayurveda is based on three-humour system and diseases are classified accordingly with 96 disceases in eye alone. He also states alarming number of diseases in term of 5,68, 99, 584. Kundakunda also mentions 96 diseases in an Angula of the body.
Despite this, the number of actual diseases, on sonsolidation, varies from 10-64 in different period from Acara to Sivarya, which include physical surgical and psychological diseases also. Ugraditya and many earlier texts have mentioned that they were treated with 29 physical processes and 6 surgical processes besides psychological ash-thread therapy.
He mentions sixty such processes. There were eleven kinds of medicines prescribed for patients. The use of mercury and its preparations are post-canonical phenomena.
While Acara gives 32 parts of human body. TV., BA and Kalyankaraka give quite a good amount of quantitative anatomical details on the basis of the weight units used at those times, though there seems to be some variance when compared with current medical science.
Physiologically, it has been mentioned that edible materials metabolize in the body on the basis of their exothermic and endothermic nature and dhatus of blood, flesh, fat bones marrow etc are produced to run the body.
Obstetrics and Gynecology
The method and stages of procreation and pregnancy are stated in Sthananga. It also mentions conditions when pregnancy could or could not be there. It is stated that 5-sensed beings are prcreated sexually, while others may be produced a-sexually or otherwise as per Kalpasutra.
The fetus is affected by physical and psychological environment. Proegnancy longings have been described in many stories. The relative amount of semen and overy eggs leads to a male or female offspring. Proper foods and drinks are necessary under pregnancy.
The stages of development of embryo during nine months have also been mentioned in BA and TV which differs somewhat with current ideas. The abortion by four methods is also mentioned in Vipaka-Sutra.
Geriatrics and Rejuvenation
These branches were very popular in canonical and post-canonical days. This could be judged by preparations of various tonics to live longer and happier. These tonics were multi-component like the tonics of today and used natural materials in the decocted or digested forms. Kalyana Karaka gives many such preparations.
Toxicology
There are three types of poison of bacterial, zoological and stnthetic origin. The poison may be effective due to biting, eating or sight and touch effecting flesh, bone marrow and blood. Their treatment through urine drinking, poultices, blood-extracting, sucking and branding and drinking gold water etc., use of amulet and occult arts were also used for this purpose. Ugraditya deals exhaustively with these methods.
Surgery
There is mention of abscess, cuts, wounds, goiter, fistula, piles and internal thorns in scriptures. These surgical cases were taken as accidental. They were treated both by surgical practices and medications. The doctor was supposed to carry his box with him for treatment of nay type.
Units of Medical Establishments
Sthananga (—300 BCE) is the first book to mention four basic units of ancient medical system :
| (1) physician | (2) patients |
| (3) nurse | (4) medicines including their preparation and administration. |
Jivabhigama has added community and preventive medicine section also to them. Ugraditya also starts his book with two-fold units :
| (1) Preventive | (2) Curative, |
All the units are well defined as has been reported by R. P. Bhatnagar No Addition to these units has been made in text of later days.
Death
The medication is meant to delay the death as much as one can, but is an essential wing of this-worldly life. It is defined as the loss of some or all vitalities due to the fruition of life-span karma. The canons, Kundakunda, Shivarya, have mentioned seven causes of death like fear, weapons, respiratory obstruction, poison and others while Bhagavati, Samavao and Shivarya have mentioned a total of 14-17 kinds of death has been called as sacred-earning. In contrast to these factors, Kalyanakaraka has described various undesirable dreams, sights and signs leading to death in specific time periods.
The Jain believe in rebirth. A good rebirth could be earned at the 1/3 or 48 minutes of the current life span with pure and religious mind. They do not mention methods of better longevity, which is the topic of current medical science. However, it holds the questions of rebirth as a faith.
Food Science
The chemistry is direclty concerned with foods, non-foods and physiological processes in the body. The food-science has many general and specific details in both-Svetambara and Digambara scriptures. If starts from Acara, and Asadhra (13th Century) and moves upto Daulatram (18th Century) and Pt. Bhuramal of twentieth century. All medieval Sravakacaras (5 volumes) deal with this subject. The objects of food-intake are described in Thanam and by Battaker, Shivarya and others agreed to by later Acaryas even upto now. The vatious kinds of food have been classified on the basis of
(i) methods of intake-three-fold like diffusion morsel and absorption, and
(ii) constituents four or six-fold.
The criteria of non-edibility starts from Acarya samanthbhandra and moves upto Pt. Jaganmohan Lal Shastri in his Sravaakdharmapradipa where rawness, uncookedness, less edible than non-edible, injurious to health one-to-many sensed beings and public opinion have been taken as criteria.
On this basis, while Acara mentions 17 non-edibles, the digambara texts mention only a few in a scattered way. However, Daulatram has mentioned 22-non-edibles classified by Jain in four categories. There seems to be some difference of opinion regarding the edibility of general bodied vegetables in both the scriptures.
On the one hand, the early scholaras like Shayambhava, Battkera, Samantbhadra and even Acara state them edible when cooked or weapon-operated; on the other, later Asaadhara and others state them non-edible under all circumstances.
The current Jaina scholars like Nathurama `Premi’, Mukhtara and Pt. Bhuramal Shastri opine their edibility under weapon-operated condition : Sadhvi Manjula and Svetambar Terapantha have no objection on this point.
The medical and biological scientists like A. K. Jain and R. K. Jain also support this view. However, many pandits like Pt. Nathulal Shastri do not support it. This point is still under discussion.
The scriptures and scholars from Battaker on wards classify the edibles in four or six parts including solid foods like grains and rice, liquids like water and milk, sweets like laddus and spices and chutney-like lickable substances.
Even massaging is also taken as food intake. Pushpdant Bhutbali state karmas and quasi-karmas (passions etc.) also as food-intake Sayyambhava, Nisithcurni and Srutasagar (16th Century), Asadhara and Sivarya have mentioned 28 kinds of grains including pulses and six types of potables Jain has analyzed them under the current food constitutnts and has opined that Jaina diet is nourshing, but it has a deficiency of minerals and vitamins etc. due to non-edibility of important kinds of vegetables.
The Svetambara canons and Sayyambhava mention about 19 kinds of vegetables, sweet dishes and fruits used in those times. This list seems to be very small in view of current days when it has gone limitless due to contraction of world. Samani Kusumprajna has dealt with this topic exhausstively and one has to analyze the edibility of foods of this and other countries. It could, however, be seen that Jain Acaryas and scholars have prescribed only vegetarian foods on the ground of utmost non-violence.
The canons do not only mentions foods for human beings, but they also indicate the foods of living beings other than them. Bhagvati and Sutrakrtatanga mention that plants take their foods from all directions from the earth involving intake of salts, water, air and solar heat which metabolise to yield different parts of the plants. The heterotropic plants have some-what different way of intake as they are parastic ones. Besides plants, the scriptures mention foods for infernals, subhumans and empyreans also. Their methods of intake have also been indicated there.
Biology
The biology deals with I-sensed beings involving plants and 2-5 sensed beings involving human beings, celestials and infernals. Many canonical texts have given fefinition, classification, birth and birth-places, bodies and other details about them.
Being hylozoic, Jainism presumed every thing in the world as living until weapon operated as per Shayyambhaba. Later many acaryas have written about it in scattered way, but some texts like Prajnapana, Jivabhigama, Gommata Sara (Jiv-kanda) and Jiva\-vicar Prakarna (JVP, 11th Century) are important for this branch.
They have four-foldly defined the living beings in terms of
(i) Upayoga (knowledge and conation),
(ii) instincts (4-16 in number), Completions (6) and vitalities (Pranas, 10).
The different classes of living beings have different levels of these qualities depending upon their degree of consciousness (capacitative and functional-being lowest in I-sensed beings).
The last book is composed by Shantibhdra Suri of 11th Century which has two commentaties in 1553 and 1728 CE which summarize the earlier contents. Acaranga is the first book postulating the livingness in plants due to feeling of pains on cutting. drying etc. like the human beings. Akalaka modified the definition of upayoga to include bliss and potency also.
The living being are mainly two-foldly classified in terms of (i) worldly and (ii) liberated. JVP follows Svetambara tradition mentioning 15 kinds of the liberated ones on the basis of the forms and condition. The Digambara texts do not mention these categories. In contrast, there is a large description of worldly beings in JVP following Prajnapana and Jivabhigama which have the best description mentioned under them.
In addition, there are many other classification-the first being the six-fold one. However, SK and Mulacara has seven-fold grouping. Other classification are on many factors like state, movement, outlook, completion, gender and senses, destinities, bodies, embodiments, knowledge, mobility, mind and their combinations where 2 to 570 classess of general living beings have been mentioned. JVP deals with many of them. Jiva-kanda emphaszes 14 and 98 classes. The plants have two main varieties and many sub-varieties. The mobile beings have 2-48 vatieties.
Almost all texts indicates that the 1-4 sensed beings have a-sexual, birth while the five sensed beings have sexual as well as a-sexual birth. However, Kalpa-sutra mention oviparousity of ants, honey bee and spider etc. which has not been followed by later acaryas.
Pranapana, Jivabhigama, Gommata Sara Jiv-kanda also give the three-fold shapes of birthplace and their nine conditions. Besides birth, the scriptures prescribe 84 lac birth places for all the living beings. The Sutrakrtang describes the process of birth. and properties of food etc. of the living beings of different kinds under some 50 heads.
The growth of I-sensed beings occur by intake and assimilation of sap from soil, water, air and fire from downwards and upwards. The process of uterine-borns is also described in Bhahavati, Aradhana & Tatva Viara etc. where some characters are set to be due to mather and some are due to Duther.
However. Gommata sura Jivakanda has painted out three-fourth to be women and one-Fourt to be men.
The plants and zoological species have been described under 41 and 45 heads respectively involving many 25 physical and 16-20 psychical (i.e. consciouseness, feelings., spiritual stages etc.) attributes detailed by Jain.
JVP follow Prajnapana and Jivabhigama for classification of plants and zoological species. However, human beings (infernals and celestials) form separate units here with reference to current zoology.
Mathematics
Mathematics present in all the texts of Karananuyog A group as an intengral part. Sridhara, Mahavira and Thakkarpheru are renowned mathematicians in the history of Indian mathematics but the work of Yativrsabha, Virasena & Nemichandra is more important. The papers written L. C. Jain, R. C. Gupta & Anupam Jain throw light on this aspect have i am giving some details about the contribution of Yativrsabha & Mahaviracarya which represent the canonical & Non canonical group of Jaina mathematicians respectively.
Acarya Vativrisabha (3th-5th Century CE)
Yativrsabha is noted for his Triloka Prajnapti TP (Treatise on Three Worlds) dealing with geography and cosmology of Jainlogy, though he has one Curni-text (short commentary) on Kasaya Pahuda (Bouquet of Passions) of Gunadhara (2—3th Centurt CE).
The TP has described units of different measures of length and time, various civil engineering works, geometry of circle and the different dimensions of shape, size etc. Jaina universe alongwith use of zero and other mathematical symbols, and operations.
According to his units, the real atom of today has the size of 1012—1033 cm. a wonderful similarity with the current atomic size. There is superworldy mathematics also in terms of innumerable and infinites. The text represents the various areas of contemporary period. He is referred by later authors on the subject. Besides, he has dealt with architectural details of houses, temples, different kinds of halls and the like.
Mahaviracarya (-850 AD)
Various primary and secondary scriptures refer to various mathematical concepts in a scattered way, However, Ganita-sara-samgraha (compendium of the Essence of Mathematics) of Rashtrakuta golden age, is the first Jaina text dealing with contemporary mathematics in nine chapters dealing with numbers to the tune of 1024 and applications of zero, eightfold mathematical operations, fractions, rule of three and higher sets, ratio and proportion, statics and dynamics, practical and fine geometry, cubical and conic calculations, and shadow problems.
This book was used as a textbook for many centuries in south. Many problems related with practical life are also given in the book GSS. While some of this points are note worthy (i.e. 10 or circumference of an eclipse etc.) some others like the ancient Chinese book. Like a/0 = a and negation of Square root of a negative number require modification.
Currently, L. C. jain, Dr. Anupam Jain (Indore, History of meths) and Shri Depak Jadhav (Maths of Gommatsara & Triloksara) are working on mathematics in Jaina texts of different ages.
Acarya Basunandi Jayasen : Iconologist (1068-1118 CE)
The Jains have been initially image worshippers and many early books refer to this practice. However, one does not find any book on Jain iconology prior to 11th century, though we find varied icons of different materials and different ages prior to this period. Acarya Basunandi Jayasen of Golacarya branch of Nandi Lineage is the first one to write Pratistha-path (Studies on Consecrations) on the subject mentioning the total heights and measures of different parts to a ford-builders icon.
He has mentioned a normal 108 Angula size of standing image and half its size of the seated image with Finer details of their different pasts like Forehead mouth, near and fact etc. For bath the sizes. The Srtiesems made images are not taken to be worshipped until they are consecrated through 5-day ceremony under the august presence of a monk and by the proficient consecrator.
His book has been followed by later authors for iconology. and icon-makers of mostly Rajasthan. He has described various processes in the icon making and their consecration. The icon should be made from purified rock, Stone and metals etc. having a symmetrical shape and devoid of 12 defects in its different parts.
He has also mentioned icons of not only single Jina, but twenty-four fold Jina, five-fold ever-celibate ascetics, and triadic icons, Besides this, he also composed books on Householder’s conduct and architecture along with commentaries on Mulacara and Apta-mimansa.
A large number of consecration ceremonies are being held annually in Jaina community. Pt. Gulabschand Pushpa of Madhya Pradesh (1924) having an exerience of more than 125 such ceremonies since 1957 has summarized the above text. (with some modification) in Hindi or the benefit of the common man in the name of Pratista Ratnakara (Ocean of Consecration) where he has referred to many other later books of this category.
