Jain Science

  Bhagwan Mahaweer : the Wondrous Embryologist Like every Tirthankara , Bhagwan Mahaweer had penetrating vision to see the minutest in the universe. Agam (the scripture) Sutrakritang Sutra  describes: "How is a baby conceived?" It says that during the intercourse the " shonit " of a female (which contains the egg to be fertilized) partner discharged into the uterus and the " wirya " of a male (containing a huge lot of sperms, the fertilizer) partner ejaculated into the uterus. One of the sperms breaks the egg wall and the two gametes form a single unit when the Soul enters it to give it life and ensure its growth. Science also explains that sexual act between a female partner and a male partner culminates into the secretion of female gamete and male gamete which later fuse to form a zygote, the primary cell which then divides, and those new cells further divide for the growth of the baby. According to Jain Agam the fact that a woman has conceive...

  Bhagwan Mahaweer : the Incredible Psychologist Tirthankar Mahaweer had in-depth knowledge and comprehension of human mind (मानस), psyche (चित्त), spirit (अन्तःकरण) and self (आत्म, स्वयं). Margaret Stevenson admires the all-embracing command of the Jain Thinkers in her book 'The Heart of Jainism' (1915) thus, "Their saints have deep understanding of human psychology." Sigmond Freud (1856-1939), the founder of modern Psychology stated, "Expressing one's worry to someone (a psychiatrist) helps one getting relief from its pain." Thorn of that pain keeps pricking until its burden is not shared. This is of course dependence of an individual on somebody else. Christ exhorted (during first decade AD) people saying, "Confess your sin before God. He will redeem and deliver you on the day of apocalypse." This too means relief from the suffering and again makes the being dependent. Lord Mahaweer explained (550 BC) to his audience, "तस्स मिच्छा ...

  Bhagwan Mahaweer : the Buoyant Biologist Bhagwan Mahaweer asserted, “Plants have life”, as an ancient truth of Jain Darshan 2550 years ago. This was ridiculed by Science until Dr J C Basu (1858-1937) proved Mahaweer to be really true in the late 19th century. But Mahaweer, like his predecessor Tirthankaras, had even seen very, very fine organisms called  nigodia , much finer than the bacteria seen by modern science. This was when even the microscope was not yet conceived. These extremely minute organisms live in  nigod , which literally means an abode of infinitely infinite fine organisms. Bhagwan Mahaweer also stated that plants have feelings. Steve Baxter (1924-2013) proved this statement by conducting experiments on trees in a garden. He demonstrated that when the woodcutter entered the garden even without an axe in his hand, the plants showed fear and nervousness because he had cut a tree in his previous visit. According to Jainism, the ten sentiments that plants po...

  Bhagwan Mahaweer : The Supernatural Chemist ‘Pudgala’ is a significant and definitional word in Jain Darshan. Bhagwan Mahaweer used His ingenuity in coining this word for matter. It is defined as “पूरदि गलदित्ति पोग्गले।” It means, that which undergoes changes by association and dissociation (is pudgala). In terms of modern science, it represents both fusion and fission processes. It also stands for matter as well as energy. In 1917 Albert Einstein presented his famous equation E = mc2, i.e., matter and energy are inter-convertible. This established the deep meaning of the word pudgala used by Bhagwan Mahaweer. The ultimate indivisible particle, Paramanu, of Jain Darshan is an energy point. That proclaims that it is a particle as well as a wave. Distribution of pudgal in the universe is in the form of “अणवाः स्कंधाश्च।” (verse 5/25 of sacred scripture Tattwatha Sutra authored by Acharya Umaswati). It spells out that pudgal is present in the form of paramanus and their aggregates....

               Bhagwan Mahaweer: the Mathematical Genius  Mathematics in Jainism dates back to Rishabhdew, the first Tirthankar of this   awasarpini kalarddha   (half-cycle, downward serpantine aeon). He taught mathematics to His daughter Sundari. Author of Ganita Sangrah, Acharya Mahaweer (814-877 CE) wrote: “लेहइयाओ गणियप्पहणओ।” It means, script full of mathematics. The reference to 12 agama, 14 purwa, 72/64 arts for men/women is the simplest example of number system then used. Jains were the first to conceive transfinite numbers (7th century BC), a concept which was much later developed in Europe by German mathematician Georg Canter (1845-1918) through his ‘Set Theory’. Jain thinkers also introduced the notion of infinity as a quantity whose denominator was zero. This means that zero was known to Jain mathematicians before Pingala who used zero to develop decimal number system. Although Jain Mathematics predates Bhagwan Mahaweer,...