The Evolution of Plant Reproduction according to Jaina Literature

It appears from the study of the Jaina Agamas that in plants, much more clearly than in animals, an evolutionary sequence is evident ranging from forms, such as, the blue greens (algae)1 and bacteria2 which repro- duce by asexual means, to ones with complicated life cycles and highly evolved adaptations until it is capable of

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सिकदार जैन आगमों में वनस्पति-प्रजनन का सिद्धान्त खोजते हैं। सूत्रकृतांग के चार प्रकार के बीज तथा प्रज्ञापना और भगवती के वर्गीकरण से वे एक क्रमविकास दिखाते हैं — बीजाणुजनित शैवाल और कवक से लेकर भ्रूण, भ्रूणपोष एवं बीजपत्रयुक्त उच्चतर बीजधारी वनस्पतियों तक — और आधुनिक वनस्पतिविज्ञान से तुलना करते हैं। Sikdar reads the Jaina Agamas as a theory of plant reproduction. From the Sutrakrtanga's four kinds of seed and the classifications of the Prajnapana and the Bhagavati he traces an evolutionary sequence, from asexual spore-bearing algae and fungi to seed plants with embryo, endosperm and cotyledons, comparing modern botanical terms.

Written by the archive’s cataloguers, not by the author.