Jainism and Science

Jainism not only tells us principles and way of life, but also gives very detailed explanations of each and every phenomenon happening around us. Jainism doesnt believe in a universe created by God, but in a universe driven by fundamental laws, which forms the basis of modern science as well. Here in this blog, I put a few things that give us proof of vast plethora of knowledge that exists in Jainism, how science is unfolding and re-discovering facts which have been known and established doctrines in Jainism for millennials altogether. Also the moment we use our knowledge of Jain Scriptures, almost all so called mysteries of modern world like how were Pyramids made, to Heights of Dinosaurs will be solved in an instant. We also discuss challenges faced by scientists and why the profound depths of Jainism's wisdom may forever elude complete comprehension.

Time Cycle, Reducing Human and Animal Heights and Other Bodily Characteristics

The time cycle in Jainism talks about different aras. In our previous blog we have covered some of this. We are currently in the 5th ara of the descending time cycle. One of the characteristic of descending time cycle is reducing height of all life forms - human, animal etc. Simply put, height of humans, animal was much much bigger in the past than it is today. No wonder our First Tirthankar Lord Adinath's height was 500 Dhanush (or say 500 meters) whereas Lord Mahavir's height was only 6 feet. We relate to what we see today and believe in the same too. 

Recently there was a perfectly preserved 40,000-year-old Ice Age wolf's head found in Russia.

Here is a link to the discovery and a short video description of the same. Its rare to find anything that old but thankfully buried deep under arctic ice the skull was fully protected. The most shocking thing about this discovery was the fact that the wolf’s head was 16.4 inches long, almost half the size of the full body of a large modern-day wolf. The scientists called the ancient animal “gigantic. 

Forty thousand years ago was time after the Nirvana of Lord Neminath. Jain aagams mention that Lord Neminath's height was 16 times the height of Lord Mahavir Swami or 16-18x the height of modern man. These are not stories, just facts. And they co-relate so beautifully with whatever little discoveries modern scientists have been making. In one of my previous blogs I detailed about not only the age of every tirthankar, but also the time difference between them, so that we can go back with whatever historical evidences we find today and relate to human body characteristics defined for that time period.

Do you know some of the earliest Pyramids of Egypt were made possibly 15,000 years ago. Now imagine the average height of humans back then and the entire mystery which science is unable to solve today of how exactly these pyramids were made, would just vanish in a second!

Do you know now why Dinosaurs were so big?  We believe in their tall height and bodily features as some of the fossils were thankfully fully preserved, which gave us a glimpse of history millions of years ago of the life on this planet. Dinosaurs were walking on this planet around 65-265 million years ago. Now go back to the same time gap chart I had put in the previous blog and map that time era. It was the time between out 18th Tirthankar Lord Arahnath and 19th Tirthankar Lord Mallinath. Height of Lord Aranath was 98 meters and that of the tallest Dinosaurs is believed to be between 20-40 meters. Every puzzle will fall in its place.

Plant Life

Today we find it very strange that we humans and scientist considered plants as non-living not too long ago. It was as late as 1901, that Jagadish Chandra Bose proved plants are like any other life form - a concept known to Jainism since time immortal! 

(This sholka talks about life in plants or Vanaspati-kaya as called in native language)

Micro - Organisms

Imagine yourself in a time machine and go back only 30 years in time. Here you are in 1970s telling the person that you have a device which can get his picture exactly as he looks and send it to his friend 100km away via air and his friend will receive his picture in an instant. Not only that you also tell him that you can speak here and your friend will listen and talk to you sitting 100 kms away. It is very likely that he may not believe you for he cannot imagine what he cant see or think.

Now, you go back in 1620 AD. That was the time the world did not know about micro-organisms. The world did not know of existence of single celled beings. Not even the greatest scientists of the era could have imagined such an existence. However, Jain scriptures written 2000 years ago mention about micro-organisms, single celled beings in air, water, land etc. Infact, this is the basis of entire Jain philosophy. Jain scriptures describe Nigod(s) which are microorganisms living in large clusters, having only one sense, having a very short life and are said to pervade each and every part of universe, even in tissues of plants and flesh of animals.

So how could Jain Gandhars write about sub-microscopic creatures 2000 years ago? These descriptions are not mythological stories but factual information about foundation of universal functioning. It was only in the year 1665-1683 that  the existence of microscopic organisms was discovered by two Fellows of The Royal Society, Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. I want to use the word, re-discovered, for this was always known to Jainism.

(This shloka talks about life forms existing as single celled being with one senses, one of them being Prithvikay or earth bodies beings)

As per Jainism, one must refrain from consuming food, water etc. at night. The microbes that disappear when there is sunlight do not really get destroyed; after the sunset, they enter and pervade the atmosphere. These microbes are invisible to the naked eye, get into our food. Consuming this kind of food will lead to killing of these germs and bacteria which in turn will lead to our ill health of our body. This also leads to ill health of our soul as, killing of germs leads to multiple new karmic bondages attaching to your soul. Every principle of Jainism has a much deeper spiritual meaning relating to soul and a superficial meaning relating to body and health. Currently modern science is beginning to discover some of these benefits to the outer body.

Atoms

The Jain Karmic Theory and the Nau Tattvas, which are fundamental concepts in Jainism, are like the building blocks of this ancient belief system. In Jainism, they talk about the matter as 'Pudgala,' which in its purest and smallest form exists as 'Parmaanu', scientists now call them Atoms. Imagine these Pudgala/atoms as the LEGO blocks that make up everything around us.

The term 'Pud' denotes Supplement (Addition/Fusion), while 'gala' signifies Disintegrate or Fission. Jain scriptures, composed 2000 years ago, meticulously elaborate on atoms, including their formations and bonds. So fusion, fission, formation of bonds between 'Paramanu's to compose them into Pudgala or matter form. Remarkably, this knowledge predates John Dalton's discovery of atoms and his atomic theory in 1800 AD, making Jainism a repository of ancient scientific wisdom recorded in Aagam Manuscripts two millennia ago.

Additionally, Lord Mahavira expounded concepts such as the medium of motion (Dharmastikay, one of the Five categories of Ajiva or Non-Living beings in Jainism), now recognized as Ether in scientific terms. Jainism also delves into the understanding of the medium of rest (Adharmastikay) or the underlying principle of inertia.

When I do deeper in Jainism, I find each and every thing explained so beautifully that explains all phenomenon of Universe, Soul and Body.  According to Umaswami Ji’s Tattvartha Sutra, 8,400,000 different species of life exist. 

Cosmology & End of World & Beyond

Jainism provides detailed insights into the shape and size of entire Universe, describing human life on other planets and even outlining the geography of these distant worlds. For instance, in the Jambudweep cluster where our Earth exists, there are planets with salt oceans. However, in other clusters like Ghati-Khand where human beings live, there are planets with black oceans, distinct from our salty oceans. Jainism goes on to depict various planetary clusters with diverse features, including oceans made of milk and other unique characteristics.

It's fascinating to note that the observable universe, as known to modern scientists, spans 93 billion light years in diameter, representing just a tiny fraction of the entire cosmos. Even science recognizes its limitations and continues to develop new theories in an effort to understand the vastness of the Universe.

Jain Fasting or Upavasa - Intermittent Fasting

Jain fasting, also known as Upavasa, is a spiritual practice observed in Jainism, where individuals abstain from certain foods and activities for a specific period. From a scientific perspective, Jain fasting can be understood as a form of intermittent fasting, a dietary regimen that has gained attention in scientific research.

Intermittent fasting, having recently gained lot of scientific attention, involves cycles of eating and fasting, where the body alternates between periods of eating and non-eating. During fasting periods, the body undergoes several physiological changes. One of the significant changes is autophagy, a natural process through which the body cleans out damaged cells and regenerates new, healthy ones. Autophagy is believed to have various health benefits, including improved cellular function and protection against certain diseases.

Moreover, fasting also triggers a metabolic state called ketosis, where the body shifts from using glucose as its primary energy source to using ketones, which are produced from stored fat. This metabolic switch can lead to fat loss, potentially aiding in weight management and reducing the risk of obesity-related health issues.

Additionally, fasting periods can improve insulin sensitivity, regulate blood sugar levels, and reduce inflammation in the body, restore hormonal balance, help in muscle repair and preservation.

In the context of Jain fasting, the spiritual significance is deeply rooted in discipline, self-control, and non-violence (Ahimsa), aligning with the Jain principles. This self restraint helps the soul shed karmic bonds attached to it or as it is referred to as 'Nirjara'. This is the path to final liberation of the soul. 

Each principle in Jainism holds a profound spiritual significance linked to the soul, alongside a surface-level meaning related to the body and health. Interestingly, modern science is just starting to uncover some of these external health benefits.

Challenges in Scientific Validation of Jain Scriptures

A persistent question arises when examining the descriptions of human life in Jain scriptures, specifically regarding aspects such as age and height. Carbon dating is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials, fossils and any other excavated material. However, the half-life of carbon-14 is only 5,730 years, so carbon-14 dating is only effective on samples that are less than 50,000 years old. Dinosaur bones, on the other hand, are millions of years old -- some fossils are billions of years old. And the Jain historic dates mentioned in Aagams pre-dates even these times, so there is absolutely no way for modern scientists to accurately find the exact age of any fossil which is more than 50-60 thousand years old. 

According to Jain scriptures, our 19th Tirthankar, Lord Mallinath, walked the Earth over 5.4 million years ago, and the presence of our 18th Tirthankar, Lord Arahnath, dates back more than 10 billion years. Even the most advanced scientific techniques, like radiometric dating employing isotopes like uranium-238, uranium-235, and potassium-40, each with half-lives exceeding a million years, still fall short of conclusively dating artifacts to the era of Lord Arahnath. Leave aside anything more historic than that like going back to the times of Rishabhdev Bhagwan, which remain beyond our current scientific grasp.

In the pursuit of understanding the universe, cosmos, and Earth's history, the limitations of our contemporary methods become evident. The depth of the facts and knowledge written in Jain Aagams is beyond comprehension. Again one must understand these are not stories or principles of life to ensure the social and moral order remains in place. These are facts, some of them very slowly have been discovered by modern scientists. Alas, we may never we able to know all that is written in Jainism.

Jainism also predicts Pralay and complete destruction of life by the next 42,000 years on Earth. However life will re-emerge and the Ascending time cycle will start.

Jai Jinendra!