The Jaina thinkers elaborately describe the nature of space carefully distinguishing it from matter. It is devoid of several physical qualities and as such it is mere extension. It should not be confounded with extended objects.
Matter and space do not exhaust the Physical conception. The Jaina thinker pertinently asks the question why the atoms should be kept together constituting the world of maha skandha? Why should they not get dissipated throughout anantakasa or infinite space? Then there would be no world. The very fact that the structure of the world is permanent, that the world is a cosmos and not a chaos implies the existence of another principle which guarantees the permanency of the world's structure and the world form. This principle has the function of binding the flying atoms to the world's centre. Its function then is distinctly inhibitive to arrest the flying atom. This physical principle is called adharma or rest. But if adharma alone were to function in the Universe, there would be absolute rest and universal cosmic paralysis; hence the necessity of a counteracting force dharma. The function of this is to guarantee free movement for the objects that move of their own accord or otherwise. This principle of dharma or motion is merely to relieve the universal inhibition that would otherwise result.
These two principles, dharma and adharma, of motion and rest are described in terms that are applicable to the modern conception of ether. Both dharma and adharma pervade through space up to the world limit. They are absolutely non-Physical in nature and non-atomic and non-discrete in structure. The qualities of pudgala are not found therein. Nor have they the structure of space, which is constituted, by space points. These two Physical principles are perfectly simple. Therefore they may be spoken of as one or as many. They are spacial, and yet non-spacial. They are amurta and arupa. They are neither light nor heavy. They are not objects of sense perception. Their existence is inferred only through their function. Such are the characteristics of these two principles, which are distinctly peculiar to Jaina Physics.
The movement of physical objects and of organic beings is due entirely to other causal agency. Organic beings are capable of spontaneous movement and physical objects move because of impact received from other physical moving objects. Movement of these things should not be causally traced to the agency of dharma. Similarly when the moving objects come to rest, rest should not be interpreted as the result of the agency of adharma. Dharma and adharma are devoid of any kind of direct causal potency. Their function is purely external and indirect. Their neutrality is so much emphasised by the Jaina thinkers that there could be no mistake about their meaning. These are in short the necessary physical postulates without posting which the structure and form of physical Universe will be quite unintelligible.