Pudgal Paravartta

Here is a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Pudgal Paravarta" by Ramanlal C. Shah, based on the provided pages:

The book "Pudgal Paravarta" by Ramanlal C. Shah delves into the Jain concept of the cycle of experiencing material substances (Pudgal) by the soul (Jiva). The title itself, "Pudgal Paravarta," signifies the completion of the soul's cycle of experiencing the "Pudgal" (matter or inert substance) and the "Paravarta" (turning, changing, completing a cycle). The text explores the nature of this cycle, including what types of matter the soul experiences, where, when, how, and with what emotions. It emphasizes that this material enjoyment, driven by attachment (mohasakti), prevents the soul from escaping the cycle. While the soul's connection with matter is inseparable as long as it remains in the world, few people understand that there is something higher than material enjoyment, and achieving it requires breaking free from this material connection.

The Human Capacity for Reflection and the Jain Perspective on Rebirth:

The text highlights that humans, with their intellectual capacity, have a unique ability among all living beings to contemplate the past, present, and future. However, most people limit their thinking to their current lives. A significant portion of the world's population does not believe in past or future rebirths, considering their current existence as their sole reality and focusing on making it more comfortable and pleasurable. Scientists also operate in this paradigm. While religions that believe in rebirth acknowledge past and future lives, only a few individuals within these religions engage in deep contemplation about the soul's journey through samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth). Those who truly aspire to break free from this cycle and attain liberation are very few. Even fewer contemplate the duration and nature of their own wandering through the cycle of existence.

The Fundamental Jain Cosmology and the Soul's Connection to Pudgal:

According to Jainism, the entire universe, comprising the fourteen celestial realms (Chaud Rajlok) and the eighty-four lakh species of life (Chaurashi Lakh Jivayoni), can be broadly understood through two main substances: conscious (Jiva) and inert (Ajiva). Ajiva is further categorized into five types: Pudgal, Dharmastikaya (medium of motion), Adharmastikaya (medium of rest), Akashaastikaya (space), and Kala (time). The soul (Jiva) has the most intimate relationship with Pudgal. This connection is anadi (without beginning), dating back to the soul's state in nigoda (a primal state of existence). After evolving from nigoda, the soul has traversed countless cycles across the four life-forms (gati). However, just as humans dislike recalling an unpleasant past, they also dislike remembering the duration of these cycles and lack the insight to do so. The text suggests that understanding the hardships endured and the efforts made in past lives would motivate individuals to escape this cycle more quickly.

The Immense Scale of Pudgal Consumption:

The concept of anadi is difficult to grasp. The soul's connection with Pudgal has continued uninterrupted from the nigoda state up to the present human existence. The sheer volume of pudgal paramanu (fundamental particles of matter) consumed by a human in a lifetime – for food and other uses – would be astonishing if piled up. Even the consumption of food, vegetables, and water over a seventy, eighty, or hundred-year lifespan would form a mountain. Similarly, the amount of matter expelled through bodily functions is immense, and the inhalation of life-giving air is immeasurable. It's crucial to note that the same pudgal paramanu are not consistently consumed and expelled; new ones are always being absorbed and released. This calculation is only for the current life; one must also consider the countless lives from single-sensed beings to humans in the past.

Defining Pudgal and Pudgal Paravarta:

The Jain scriptures provide a systematic conceptual framework for the soul's interaction with pudgal paramanu across lifetimes. A Pudgal Paravarta is defined simply as the process by which a soul completes the consumption and release of all pudgal paramanu within the fourteen celestial realms. However, this is a simplified explanation; the true nature and sequence of these cycles are deeply elaborated in the scriptures.

The word "Pudgal" is derived from "Pur" (meaning to fill, to gather, to unite) and "Gal" (meaning to dissolve, to separate). Thus, Pudgal is a substance that undergoes continuous processes of combination and division. This characteristic of combination and division is unique to Pudgal among the six substances in Jainism.

The "Pravachana Saroddhara" commentary defines Pudgal as that which dissolves and separates from other substances while also filling and strengthening itself through its own combination. Another definition states that Pudgal is that which possesses the qualities of fullness and dissolution.

The Nature of Paramani and Pudgal:

The text explains that when inanimate objects like stone, wood, or metal are broken down to their finest particles, they reach a point where they can no longer be divided. These are called atoms or paramanu. According to the Bhagvati Sutra, pudgal paramanu are indivisible, unbreakable, unburnable, and imperceptible to the senses. They are also without beginning, middle, or end, and are singular in their spatial extent (apradneshi).

The text further categorizes Pudgal into four types: Skandha (aggregates), Desh (parts), Pradesh (regions), and Paramanu. All these categories are infinite. Paramanu is the subtlest, eternal, indestructible, and extremely fine part of Pudgal. These fine paramanu possess four qualities: taste, smell, color, and touch. When two or more paramanu combine, they form a skandha. A skandha is an aggregate of countable, uncountable, or infinite paramanu.

Classifications of Pudgal:

The Bhagvati Sutra classifies Pudgal into three types based on their modification:

1. Prayog Parinat: Matter modified by the soul's actions (e.g., body).
2. Visarga Parinat: Matter modified by nature, without the soul's effort (e.g., sunlight, shadow).
3. Mishra Parinat: Matter modified by both soul's actions and nature (e.g., dead bodies).

Pudgal substance is in constant flux. Pudgal paramanu undergo infinite changes through aggregation and dissolution. One paramanu combines with or separates from an infinite number of other paramanu or skandhas. This transformation is infinite because the pudgal paramanu themselves are infinite.

Varganas and the Scale of Time in Pudgal Paravarta:

The fourteen celestial realms contain infinite pudgal paramanu. These are grouped into varganas (classifications). There are infinite varganas, but they are categorized into seven main types:

1. Audarik Vargana (gross body matter)
2. Vaikriya Vargana (transformable body matter)
3. Tejas Vargana (fiery matter)
4. Karman Vargana (karmic matter)
5. Man Vargana (mental matter)
6. Vachan Vargana (speech matter)
7. Shvasochchvas Vargana (respiratory matter)

The soul's wandering through samsara, from the beginning until liberation, is based on the absorption and shedding of these pudgal paramanu. This process is called Pudgal Paravarta. A Pudgal Paravarta is completed when a soul absorbs and processes all pudgal paramanu within the fourteen celestial realms. This process takes an immeasurable amount of time, spanning countless cosmic cycles (kalachakra). One kalachakra equals one descending era (avasarpini) and one ascending era (utsarpini), totaling twenty kodakodi sagaropam.

Understanding Time Units: Palyopama and Sagaropama:

The text explains the Jain units of time: Palyopama and Sagaropama.

• Palyopama: Imagine a cube 4 gaj (a unit of measurement) in length, width, and depth, filled tightly with the fine hair of young humans. If a stream of water could pass over it without a single drop penetrating, and an army's march did not compress it, then it is filled. If one strand of hair is removed every 100 years, the time taken to empty the entire cube is one Palyopama. There are six types of Palyopama, with the example given being for the "subtle Palyopama."
• Sagaropama: This is even larger. If the cube were as large as an ocean, and the same process of removing hair strands every 100 years were followed, the time taken would be one Sagaropama. One Sagaropama is equivalent to ten kodakodi Palyopama. "Kodakodi" means crore multiplied by crore.

The Magnitude of Kalachakra:

A full kalachakra (one ascending and one descending era) is equal to twenty kodakodi Sagaropama. For perspective, the lifespan of deities in the Sarvarthasiddhi vimana or beings in the seventh hell is thirty-three Sagaropama. Therefore, a Pudgal Paravarta takes an unfathomable number of kalachakra. The scriptures state that the soul has performed infinite Pudgal Paravartas while wandering through the fourteen celestial realms and the eighty-four lakh life-forms to reach the human state. Beings who will never attain liberation (abhavyas) will continue to perform these cycles eternally.

The Four Types of Pudgal Paravarta and Their Subdivisions:

The text elaborates on four main types of Pudgal Paravarta:

1. Dravya Pudgal Paravarta (Substance-based)
2. Kshetra Pudgal Paravarta (Space-based)
3. Kala Pudgal Paravarta (Time-based)
4. Bhava Pudgal Paravarta (Mental/Emotional State-based)

Each of these four types is further divided into Badar (gross/crude) and Sukshma (subtle), resulting in a total of eight types:

1. Gross Dravya Pudgal Paravarta
2. Subtle Dravya Pudgal Paravarta
3. Gross Kshetra Pudgal Paravarta
4. Subtle Kshetra Pudgal Paravarta
5. Gross Kala Pudgal Paravarta
6. Subtle Kala Pudgal Paravarta
7. Gross Bhava Pudgal Paravarta
8. Subtle Bhava Pudgal Paravarta

These eight types of Pudgal Paravartas occur simultaneously. The completion of one does not imply the end of the process; another immediately begins. The soul has performed an infinite number of these cycles since time immemorial.

Illustrative Games for Understanding:

To help understand the abstract concepts, the author presents four games:

• Game 1 (Gross/Reverse Order): A grid with numbers 1-100. Drawing numbered balls from a bag and marking the corresponding numbers on the grid as they are drawn. This represents a gross, non-sequential completion.
• Game 2 (Subtle/Sequential Order): Similar to Game 1, but a mark is only made when the numbers are drawn in their sequential order (1, then 2, then 3, etc.). If the sequence is broken, the drawing continues until the correct number appears. This may require multiple rounds of redrawing the balls, illustrating a subtle, sequential process that takes a vast amount of time.
• Game 3 (Gross - Multiple Dimensions): Using four colored grids (representing Dravya, Kshetra, Kala, Bhava) and corresponding colored balls. When a ball is drawn, the number associated with that color on the ball is marked on the respective colored grid. This represents multiple gross Pudgal Paravartas happening concurrently.
• Game 4 (Subtle - Multiple Dimensions): Similar to Game 3, but the marking on each colored grid must be done sequentially (1, then 2, then 3, etc.). This illustrates subtle Pudgal Paravartas for each of the four dimensions happening in sequence.

These games use numbers up to 100 for simplicity, but the actual scale of paramanu is uncountable or infinite, making the actual duration unimaginably long.

Detailed Explanation of the Eight Paravartas:

The text then provides more detailed explanations for each of the eight types, referencing scriptures like "Shri Pudgal Paravartastav" and "Pravachana Saroddhara."

• Dravya Paravarta: This involves the soul processing all pudgal paramanu within the seven varganas (Audarik, Vaikriya, Tejas, Karman, Man, Vachan, Shvasochchvas).

  • Gross Dravya Paravarta: Occurs when all pudgal paramanu within the fourteen realms are processed, regardless of the order of varganas.
  • Subtle Dravya Paravarta: Occurs when the soul processes all pudgal paramanu by first completing the cycle for Audarik Vargana, then for Vaikriya Vargana, and so on, through all seven varganas sequentially.
  • The text also mentions subdivisions of Dravya Paravarta into Nokarma Dravya Paravarta and Karma Dravya Paravarta, with further classifications of the former into Agrihita (unabsorbed), Grihita (absorbed), and Mishra (mixed) periods.

• Kshetra Paravarta: This relates to the soul's contact with different regions of space (lokakasha).

  • Gross Kshetra Paravarta: Occurs when the soul touches all the spatial regions of the fourteen realms, either sequentially or in a mixed order, through death in each life.
  • Subtle Kshetra Paravarta: Occurs when the soul touches each spatial region of the fourteen realms sequentially through death.
  • Further divisions include Swakshetra Paravarta (soul experiencing its own limited spatial realm) and Parakshetra Paravarta (soul experiencing all spatial regions of the universe).

• Kala Paravarta: This relates to the soul's experience of time units.

  • Gross Kala Paravarta: Occurs when the soul encounters all the samayas (moments) of an ascending and descending era, sequentially or non-sequentially, through death.
  • Subtle Kala Paravarta: Occurs when the soul encounters all the samayas of an ascending and descending era sequentially through death.

• Bhava Paravarta: This relates to the experience of karmic fruition, specifically the intensity of passions (kashayas like anger, pride, deceit, greed).

  • Gross Bhava Paravarta: Occurs when the soul experiences the vast number of anubandha bandha sthanas (locations of karmic bondage intensity) within the entire lokakasha, sequentially or non-sequentially, through death.
  • Subtle Bhava Paravarta: Occurs when the soul experiences these anubandha bandha sthanas sequentially through death. The intensity of passions creates innumerable subtle karmic states.

The Significance of Subtle Paravartas and the Possibility of Liberation:

The text emphasizes that the badar or vyutkrama (reverse order) Paravartas are primarily for understanding the sukshma (subtle) ones. The infinite Pudgal Paravartas performed by the soul are fundamentally subtle.

The Fifth Paravarta: Bhava Paravarta in Digambara Tradition:

The Digambara tradition also includes a fifth category: Bhava Paravarta (often translated as Life-cycle Paravarta or Birth-cycle Paravarta). This refers to the soul's journey through all eighty-four lakh life-forms, experiencing progressively longer lifespans within each, ultimately culminating in the most advanced stages of life in the human and celestial realms. This cycle of experiencing all life-forms is considered one Bhava Paravarta. The soul has performed infinite such Bhava Paravartas.

The End of the Cycle and the Path to Liberation:

The sheer scale of these Pudgal Paravartas is mind-boggling. However, the text assures that these cycles do have an end. If the soul's delusion (mithyatva) diminishes and certain virtues manifest, it is on its last Paravarta. Such souls are called charama (last) avarti (cyclers). The text quotes Shri Haribhadrasuri, stating that a soul in its final Pudgal Paravarta, who achieves Shukla Pakshika (the pure white stage of spiritual development), breaks the knot of attachment and adheres to conduct, is nearing liberation. Souls who experience Samydagdarshana (right faith) even once can complete their remaining Pudgal Paravartas in less than half a cycle. As Samydakdarshana purifies, the remaining lifespan in samsara decreases.

The book concludes with a prayer from the author, echoing a similar sentiment from the composer of "Shri Pudgal Paravartastav," pleading for liberation from the suffering of infinite cycles and for the attainment of blessedness and the state of pure soul. The ultimate message is one of hope, highlighting that through spiritual discipline and understanding, the cycle of material attachment can be broken, leading to ultimate liberation.