Jain Plantology

Here is a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Jain Plantology" by J. L. Jaini, based on the provided pages:

Introduction and Historical Context:

The article, first published in "The Jaina Gazette" in April 1947, highlights the advanced understanding of life and its various forms within Jainism, a philosophy with roots stretching back at least 3,000 to 5,000 years. The author, J. L. Jaini, contrasts this ancient Indian wisdom with the slower pace of discovery in the West. He points to the novelty of an article like "Anchored Animals" in Western publications, suggesting that it takes Western civilization a long time to grasp concepts that have been fundamental to Indian thought for millennia. Jainism, he emphasizes, offers a transparent and testable philosophy, with its core teachings remaining unchanged for thousands of years, transmitted through 24 Tirthankaras, including Lord Rishabha Deva and Lord Mahavira.

Core Characteristics of Embodied Souls in Jainism:

Jainism defines life or soul based on several key characteristics applicable to all embodied souls:

1. Consciousness: The capacity to be aware.
2. Attentiveness/Knowledge: The ability to perceive and understand.
3. Senses: Possession of at least one and at most five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing), with a hierarchical dependency (e.g., sight implies taste and touch).
4. Body/Mind Power: The capacity of the body, senses, and, for some beings, the mind.
5. Respiration: The process of inhaling and exhaling, signifying the "clock of life."
6. Age/Lifespan: A defined period for the existence of the embodied soul.

Jain Perspective on Plant Life:

The article then applies these characteristics to plants, asserting that they possess all of them:

• Consciousness and Senses: Plants have consciousness and knowledge, but exclusively through the sense of touch. They lack taste, smell, sight, and hearing. While they exhibit responses akin to "eating" and "sleeping," these are limited to the functioning of touch-based consciousness and should not be mistaken for human-like thought or deep intention.
• Body and Mind: Plants possess the vitality of their bodies and the sense of touch. They are mindless, meaning they do not have mental faculties.
• Respiration and Lifespan: Plants clearly respire (inhale and exhale) and have a defined lifespan, being born and dying over time, as confirmed by scientific experiments.

Classification of Souls in Jainism:

Jainism divides embodied souls into two main categories:

1. Mobile Souls (Trasa): Beings capable of movement at will, such as humans, animals, and insects.
2. Immobile Souls (Sthavara): Beings fixed in one place. The article focuses on the five classes of Sthavara souls:
   • Earth-bodied: Souls embodied in earth particles. The text clarifies that not all matter is alive; only earth that has the capacity for growth is considered to possess a soul. Dead matter like stone or writing pens are not living.
   • Water-bodied: Souls embodied in water molecules.
   • Fire-bodied: Souls embodied in fire particles.
   • Air-bodied: Souls embodied in air molecules.
   • Vegetable/Plant-bodied (Vanaspati): This is the most detailed category discussed, with Jain texts recognizing 24 lakh (2,400,000) types of "wombs" or nuclei for plant reproduction.

Further Classification within Vegetable Souls:

The plant kingdom (Vanaspati) is further divided based on the number of souls within a single body:

1. Sadharana (Group-souled) Plants: These plants have one body inhabited by many souls that are born, breathe, eat, function, live, and die together. These are known as Nigoda.
   • Nitya Nigoda: Those that have always existed in this group-souled state.
   • Itara Nigoda: Those that were once in a higher state of existence but have fallen back to the Nigoda condition.
2. Pratyeka (Individual-souled) Plants: These plants are inhabited by only one soul.
   • Sapra-tishthita Pratyeka: Host-individual plants that can be hosts for parasites.
   • Apratishthita Pratyeka: Non-host-individual plants that do not have parasites.

Key Concluding Points:

The article concludes by highlighting two vital points derived from Jain philosophy:

1. Soul and Body: Every soul fills its entire body, regardless of size. All souls (human, animal, plant) are fundamentally the same, possessing a capacity for contraction and expansion. The body's form or character does not alter the soul's essence. Each embodied soul is a unit of manifested life.
2. Living vs. Non-living Distinction: Discoveries like those of Sir Jagadis do not negate the fundamental distinction between the living (Jiva) and the non-living (Ajiva). Jainism, and Hinduism when understood correctly, firmly maintain this eternal and unremovable separation.

In essence, "Jain Plantology" argues that Jainism possesses an ancient and sophisticated understanding of life, extending consciousness and soulhood to plants and even elementary particles, albeit with varying degrees of sensory perception. It encourages readers to appreciate the sentience of plant life and to avoid unnecessary harm, linking scientific discoveries to long-held Jain principles.