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30 Anekantavāda and Syādvada
is affirmed; that does not mean that existence alone is its own characteristic, but that non-existence also is an equally valid aspect of it. Here the question may arise that if the extraneous nonexistence is a nature of the soul, then the colour etc. of physical objects should also be considered as the nature of the latter. The solution is obvious. That both existence and non-existence constitute the nature of a thing is attested by experience, just as smoke and fire exist in the same locus, say a kitchen. Existence and non-existence are similarly concomitant attributes, there being a natural relationship (svabhāva-sambandha) between the two. This in essence is the principle of relativity propounded by the doctrine of conditional dialectic (syädvāda).
The nature of the substance does not follow from the doctrine of conditional dialectic. The substance is as it is by nature. One cannot explain why that is so. Philosophy does not create a real. It only explains it. And exactly this is the aim and purpose of conditional dialectic. The Jaina philosopher admits five special qualities on the basis of experience which are responsible for the postulation of five substances Quality
Substance 1. Motion
Dharmastikāya (the substance which is the
medium of motion) Rest
Adharmästikāya (the substance which is the
medium of rest). 3. Accommodation
Akasastikaya - Space (the substance which
is the medium of accommodation). 4. Colour, smell, taste Matter
and touch 5. Consciousness Soul.
(We have not translated the word 'astikāya' in the above renderings. The above substances are called 'astikāya' because they have extension and are conceived as consisting of space-points, countable, countless or infinite.)
All the qualities other than the above five are generic attributes. The distinction between them is explained by means of conditional dialectic (syädvāda).
Question 4. It has been said that the sevenfold predication can be applicable with respect to each and every attribute of a substance. If so, is the non-absolutism (relativism) itself available to the system of
