Jain Theism

SR No.: 006509
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hemant Shah
Publisher: Hemant Shah
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 218
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Religion
File Size: 10 MB

Page 68

Jain Logic Haribhadra, Akalanka, Virasena, Vidyānandi, Vādi Devsuri, Hemachandrācārya, and Yashovijayaji. This is the period between 5th and 16th century. 3.1.3 Aims and Subject matter of Jain Logic
Neither I wish nor it is the aim of this work to give and discuss a detailed account of the Jain logicians, their works and the critical estimate of them all, I wish a short picture of the logical background of Jain philosophy, that is being attempted, should enable the reader to understand Jain logic in its true perspective.
Though there is' 'love for his faith and zeal for its aggrandizement' behind every author's work, we also find some other aims behind the Jain logicians. With reference to Diwākar in the words of Dr. A.N.Upadhye : "to provoke thoughtfullness and develop understanding on the strength of logic in one's Sampradāya" and "to secure respectibility for the basic principles of Jainism among the learned of the non-Jain schools” were the aims of the early Jain logicians. Moreover, the Jain scholars had emphatically accepted that in order to have a thorough understanding of the noble and profound principles of Mahāvira, it is inevitable, that one is prepared for “diving deep into the meaning of the Sastras intelligently and logically." Besides, it also requires to be noted that a Jain logician hits hard at the vanity of pretended and vocal scholarship. “His challenge to blind faith and inherited orthodoxy full of inconsistency” is a hidden aim behind his creation. But then to sum up we can say that the chief aim is to understand the scriptures and the doctrine which again is not possible without the correct knowledge of Pramāṇas and Nayas, To Jains, “universal is a fact which can be understood by logical thought alone."
The subject matter of Jain logic includes all such topics as are resulting from the Jain theory of knowledge and reality. Apart from the Pramāṇas as sources for knowledge the ‘Nayavāda' and Saptabhangivāda' the 'Dravyāstika' and 'Paryāyastika' views, the enumeration and classification of Naya, the Jñeya, are some of the quite interesting topics included in Jain logic.. 3.1.4 Jain Theory of Knowledge
According to Jainism knowledge is one of the attributes of
4. A.N. Upadhye : Siddhasena's Nyåyåvatåra and other Works (1971) p. 20 5. Satkari Mookerjee, The Jain Phi. -of Non Absolutism (1978) p. xiv