Jainism: Maths as Tool to Attain Mukti - Sacred Numbers

By ASHOK RAJ

Sacred Numbers: Maths as Tool to Attain Mukti

"I bow to that glorious Lord of the Jainas, who as the shining lamp of the know-ledge of numbers made to shine whole of the universe", said Mahaviracharya in Ganita Sara Sangraha. Few know that ancient Jain scientific thought is a rich source of Indian scientific heritage. The grand Jain spiritual tradition and its masters broadly influenced Indian thought and rationality in three key areas: Atomism, non-absolutism and mathematical concepts including the theory of numbers. As realists, a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the material world was important to Jain philosophers.

Karma, according to the Jains, is paudgalika or of material nature. By its linkages with body and thus with the outer world, the soul is literally penetrated with material particles of a very subtle kind. These come to represent Karma and build up a special body, the karmana-sarira, which remains a part of the soul until its final emancipation. Thus the atoms of which the karma-matter is composed of, are believed to be invested with a peculiar faculty which manifests into the effects of merits and demerits, finally deciding the way to the soul's emancipation.

Jain thinkers further extended this soul-karma manifestation towards explaining the material world. According to them, "matter is an eternal substance, undetermined with regard to quantity and quality - it may increase or diminish in volume without addition or loss of particles, and it may assume any form and develop any kind of quality. Material substances may coalesce into one substance, and one substance may divide into many''. The Pancastikayasara defines and describes the nature of paramanu, while the Bhagavatisutra fully elaborates this theory.

The Jain theory of non-absolutism or epistemological relativity is unparalleled. Jain thinkers had realised that the world is much more complex and subtle than it looks. They explicitly rejected Ôthe law of the excluded middle'. Jain theory had two main seven-fold systems. The Syadvada or the doctrine of Ômay be', or saptabhangi or the seven-fold division, according to which, there are not merely the two possibilities of existence and non-existence, but seven. An object or event can have seven aspects of predication. The Nayavada or the theory of standpoints is also a seven-fold system of predication and delineates the ways of approaching an object of observation.

The pluralistic realism in Jain thought had a direct bearing on their praxis towards a quantitative understanding of the material world. From the complexities of paramanu, to highly intricate interpretations of the cosmic world, Jain masters laid the foundation of distinct Jain schools in mathematics astronomy and geography. The Jain monks established a rich tradition in mathematics as part of their spiritual practices. In fact, Sankhyana or mathematics became an important anuyoga to be mastered by every pious Jain.

The well-known Jain texts dealing with scientific topics are: Ganita Sara Sangraha, Tattvasthanadhigama Sutra, Sthananga Sutra, Jambudvipa Prajnapti, Anuyogadvara Sutra, Ksetra Samasa, Triloka Sara and Bhagavati Sutra. Mahaviracharya, who authored the Ganita Sara Sangraha, was the court mathematician of the benevolent Rastrakuta King, Amoghavarsa Nrupatunga (815-878 AD). He renounced his kingdom in his last days and became a Jain monk. For Jain monks, scientific inquiry was not a specialised discipline but a way to achieve the final spiritual state in which the material basis of the world is fully understood and realised.