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CHAPTER 10
RUDIMENTS OF ANEKĀNTAVĀDA IN EARLY
PĀLI LITERATURE
Bhagchandra Jain
In the eyes of Jaina philosophy, everything is multifaceted. It is neither only true nor only false, neither eternal nor transitory. It can be true from some angle and false from some other. Different people think about different aspects of the same reality and therefore their partial findings are contradictory to one another. Hence, they indulge in debates claiming that each of them was completely true. The Jaina philosophers thought over this conflict and tried to reveal the whole truth by establishing the theory of non-absolutist standpoint (anekantavāda) with its two wings, nayavāda and syādvāda.
The present paper will throw light on the rudiments of anekāntavāda, nayavāda and syāduāda found in the early Pali literature which will assist us in comprehending the earlier form of these theories. 1. Anekāntavāda
Rudiments of anekantavāda are traceable in the Buddhist approach to a question. Päli literature describes how the Buddha answered a question in four ways. The four ways are:
1. Ekamsa-vyäkaraniya (answerable categorically). 2. Pațipucchävyäkaraṇīya (answerable by putting another question). 3. Thāpaniya (question that should be set aside).
4. Vibhajjavyākaraṇīya (answerable analytically). 1. Anguttaranikāya, ii. 46; Milindapañho, iv. 2.5; Also see, A. i. 197.
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