Facets of Jain Philosophy Religion and Culture

SR No.: 002012
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shreechand Rampuriya, Ashwini Kumar, T M Dak, Anil Dutt Mishra
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 1996
Total Pages: 400
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, Religion, & Nyay
File Size: 23 MB

Page 59

42 Aneküntavāda and Syādvāda
question is too brief to admit of further dissection by means of intellectual weapons (buddhi-sāstra), that portion of the element-in-continous-flow which occupies this interval is called momentary (kşanika) because it is the smallest possible. The words eternal and momentary are considered to be each other's antonyms (viruddharthaka); for the connotation of one includes lack of a beginning and of an end (anadianantată). However, viewing from the non-absolutist stand-point, we can see that the same element which is called 'eternal' insofar as it is of the form of continuous flow may also be called 'momentary' insofar as it undergoes a change (parivartana) or a new modification (paryāya) every moment. The basis of one viewpoint is the observation of beginninglessness and endlessness, that of the other the observation of beginnings and ends. But the total nature of a real entity comprises the lack of beginning and of an end as also the possession of a beginning and of an end. Hence the viewpoints in question, though true within their respective spheres, will yield the whole truth only when properly synthesized.
This synthesis, too, can be elucidated with the help of an illustration. The total life-activity of a tree-right from the beginning uptil the time of fructification--completes its course only by flowing through the successive stages represented by the seed, the root, the sprout, the trunk, the branches and twigs, the leaves , the flowers, the fruits, etc. So when we view an entity as a 'true' we have in mind the total life-activity continuously flowing through these various stages. On the other hand, when we grasp, one by one, the successively emerging elements-like root, sprout, trunk, etc.—of this life-activity we have in mind but these various elements, each possessing a limited duration. Thus our mind takes note of the life-activity in question sometimes in one continuous form and sometimes in a discontinuous form, that is, element by element. On closer investigation it becomes evident that neither is the continuous life-activity either the whole truth or but a product of imagination, nor are the discontinuous elements either the whole truth or but a product of imagination.” Even granting that the continuous life-activity absorbs within itself the totality of discontinuous elements or that the discontinuous elements absorb within themselves the total continuous life-activity, the fact remains
3.
That the continuous life activity is the whole truth and discontinuous elements but a product of imagination is the eternalist's position, that the discontinuous elements are the whole truth and the continuous life-activity but a product of imagination is the momentarist's position. Tr.