Pradeśa
The smallest region of space: exactly the room one atom takes up, and no less.
Space in Jain physics is not continuous. It is a lattice of indivisible points, and a pradeśa is one of them. It is defined the same way the Samaya is, by the smallest thing that can occupy it.
The count matters. The space-points of the occupied universe are asaṃkhyāta, innumerable but finite, because the Loka itself is finite. The space-points of the emptiness outside it are anantānanta, because that is not.
A soul has space-points too, also asaṃkhyāta, and the same number regardless of the body it is in. It contracts into an ant and expands into an elephant like a cloth folded or spread, which is how one soul occupies bodies of every size without changing what it is.
Measurements and counts
| Size | the room for one atom |
|---|---|
| Divisible? | no |
| In the loka | asaṃkhyāta |
| In aloka | anantānanta |
| In one soul | asaṃkhyāta |
| Occupied by | one paramāṇu at a time |