जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
A ladder of the Prajñāpanā · 6 rungs

By body

अल्पबहुत्व

By body, from fewest to most: moving beings, fire-bodies, earth-bodies, water-bodies, air-bodies, plant-bodies.

By kind of body: the moving beings, everything with two senses or more, are fewest. Fire-bodies are innumerably more; earth-bodies a little more than fire; water-bodies a little more than earth; air-bodies a little more than water; and plant-bodies infinitely more than air. So among the four elements the text ranks fire lowest and air highest, and it is the plants, with the nigoda among them, that hold almost everything alive.

In the text's own words the ladder reads - fewest: moving beings; innumerably many times more: fire-bodies; a little more: earth-bodies; a little more: water-bodies; a little more: air-bodies; infinitely many times more: plant-bodies. Source: Prajñāpanā 3.

The multitudes: every class of being, fewest to mostPrajñāpanā 3 - an order, never a count; four words for every stepthe bands are the atlas's three magnitudes: countable, innumerable, infinitehumans are the only countable rung; plants top every ladder they stand onTHE COUNTABLETHE INNUMERABLETHE INFINITETHE FIVE DESTINIEShumans×asaṃkhyātahell-beings×asaṃkhyātagods×anantasiddhas×anantaanimals and plantsBY SENSESfive-senseda little morefour-senseda little morethree-senseda little moretwo-sensed×anantaone-sensedBY BODYmoving beings×asaṃkhyātafire-bodiesa little moreearth-bodiesa little morewater-bodiesa little moreair-bodies×anantaplant-bodiesBY GENDERmale×saṃkhyātafemale×anantaneuterTHE SEVEN HELLSthe seventh×asaṃkhyātathe sixth×asaṃkhyātathe fifth×asaṃkhyātathe fourth×asaṃkhyātathe third×asaṃkhyātathe second×asaṃkhyātathe firstthe steps: a little more · countably many times · innumerably many times · infinitely many times more - Prajñāpanā 3not to scale: the heights follow the text's word for each step, and no scale could hold a countable rung and an infinite one
The multitudes: fewest to most - By body highlighted

Measurements and counts

Fewestmoving beings
asaṃkhyāta-guṇafire-bodies
viśeṣādhikaearth-bodies
viśeṣādhikawater-bodies
viśeṣādhikaair-bodies
ananta-guṇaplant-bodies

Connected

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समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

Do not be heedless, Gautama, for even a single samaya.

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10