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The Doctrine of Nayas: Infinite Modes and Infinite Approaches
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digging up the bed of the Ganges, whereas the second expression refers to the physical origin of the Ganges from the Himālayas. The Viewpoint of Function (evambhūta naya) In this viewpoint the relationship between the denotative and the denotatum is further delimited. In that the etymological meaning of the former must be satisfied by the latter. A word in order to be an exact denotative of the sense must refer to the present mode instead of a bygone aspect or an aspect that is to come. In the interest of precision of expression one should use only the word that is indicative of immediately existing mode of the denotatum. In the proposition 'a teacher is teaching the student', the expression 'teacher' has been properly used because he is engaged in the act of teaching at the moment. But in the proposition 'a teacher is taking his lunch', the use of the word 'teacher' is not logically proper because he is taking food instead of doing any kind of teaching at the moment. The Scope of Viewpoints The substance stands for the universal whereas the modes refer to the particular aspects of a thing. Substance and modes are indeed the basic objects of cognition. Two fundamental viewpoints have been conceived on the basis of these two aspects of a real – a) The cognition or the experience of the substance
or the universal of a thing is the source of what is
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