In Bhagavati-sutra, Rohana’s “chicken–egg” question is actually used by Bhagavan Mahavira himself to explain exactly this problem: “What is first and what is later?”

From that dialogue we get a very clear Jain answer:

> For certain realities, the order “first–later” (pūrva–paścāt) simply does not apply.

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1. What the Bhagavati-sutra actually says (in simple form)

Rohana asks a series of questions:

1. Which is first – loka (universe-space where dravyas exist) or aloka (empty space beyond loka)?
2. Which is first – jīva (soul) or ajīva (non-soul substance)?
3. Which is first – bhava-siddhika / abhava-siddhika, siddhi / asiddhi, siddha / asiddha etc.?
4. Which is first – egg or hen?

Mahavira’s reply (in essence) is:

• Loka and aloka are both eternal, therefore you cannot say “this is first, that is later.”
• Exactly the same applies to:

- jīva and ajīva - bhava-siddhika and abhava-siddhika - siddhi and asiddhi - siddha and asiddha

• Then, using Rohana’s own “hen–egg” example, Mahavira makes it very easy:

- From where did the egg come? – “From the hen.” - From where did the hen come? – “From the egg.” - So: hen and egg both appear to be first and also later; they form a beginningless cycle. - Therefore, “first–later” order does not apply there.

Exactly this logic Mahavira tells Rohana to apply to jīva–ajīva, loka–aloka, etc.

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2. Matching the “chicken–egg” with jīva–ajīva

(a) Nature of jīva and ajīva

• Jīva – living, conscious substance (soul).
• Ajīva – all non-living substances:

- Pudgala (matter, including karmic matter), - Dharma (medium of motion), - Adharma (medium of rest), - Ākāśa (space), - Kāla (time).

All these six dravyas are:

• Anādi – without beginning.
• Ananta – without end.
• Avaśya-sattā – they always exist.

So, no one creates the other. Jīva does not produce ajīva as a substance, and ajīva does not produce jīva as a substance.

What we see is only mutual, beginningless association of jīva with pudgala (karmas, body, etc.). Like an endless circle, there is no first point.

So, the “hen–egg” is given as a simple worldly illustration:

• Just as you cannot truly say which came “first” – hen or egg –
• So you also cannot truly say which came first – jīva or ajīva.
• Both are eternally existing dravyas; only their modes (paryāyas) change.

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3. Matching with loka and aloka

Loka – the limited portion of ākāśa where all 6 dravyas (jīva, pudgala, dharma, adharma, ākāśa, kāla) exist. Aloka – the infinite remaining space beyond loka, where only ākāśa exists (no jīva, no pudgala, no dharma, no adharma, no kāla).

Rohana asks: “Is loka first and aloka later, or aloka first and loka later?”

Mahavira’s answer:

• Both loka and aloka are eternal.
• So they are “first and later” simultaneously in the sense that neither has a beginning.
• Thus, kāla-anupūrvi (time sequence of ‘before–after’) does not apply to their existence as dravyas.

So, the chicken–egg situation here means:

• Like hen and egg in a beginningless cycle,
• Loka and aloka do not have a starting point where you can say: “This one truly came earlier in time.”

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4. Other pairs in that same context

In the same series, the sutra applies the same principle to:

• Bhava-siddhika / Abhava-siddhika

(souls destined for liberation vs. not destined – from the viewpoint of their future potential)

• Siddhi / Asiddhi

(state of liberation vs. non-liberated state)

• Siddha / Asiddha (saṃsārī)

(perfected liberated souls vs. worldly souls)

Meaning in each case:

• As categories / tattvas / dravyas, they also are beginningless realities in the cosmos.
• You cannot say, in absolute time, “siddha came first, asiddha later,” or the reverse.

The class of siddhas and the class of saṃsārīs are both anādi.

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5. How Jain Darshan frames this (in very simple words)

1. Substance (dravya) is never created, never destroyed.

Only its modes (paryāya) change.

1. Therefore, asking “Who created whom?” at the level of dravyas is a wrong question.
2. The “chicken–egg” example is used to show:

- Our mind insists on a “first cause,” - But in reality, many basic things are beginningless and do not fit into a first–later pattern.

1. Jhiva–ajīva and loka–aloka are exactly such beginningless realities.

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6. Digambar and Śvetāmbara view

• Bhagavati-sutra is a Śvetāmbara āgama;

the talk with Rohana is preserved there.

• Digambar āgama tradition has different texts, but:

- Both Digambar and Śvetāmbara fully agree that: - All six dravyas are eternal, uncreated, indestructible. - The universe is anādi–ananta, without first moment or last moment. So the basic philosophical point about jīva–ajīva and loka–aloka is the same in both traditions.

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So, to answer your main line:

> “Chicken and egg situation is created by each other. So how can this situation be matched…?”

From Jain Darshan, we would refine it slightly:

• Hen and egg are not really created by each other as dravyas;

rather, they are in a beginningless chain of mutual dependence in terms of _birth-forms_.

• Mahavira uses this to show that similarly:

- Jīva and ajīva, - Loka and aloka, and the other pairs mentioned, are anādi, so the question “which is first?” does not apply to them at all.