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Anekāntavāda and Phenomenology
Dr. J. J. Shukla
The father of modern scepticism Pyrrho of Elis joined along with others the scientific retinue of Alexander, the Great expedition to India and came in touch with Indian Sramaņas - Jaina Ascetics, striving towards the attainment of wisdom. The basic characteristic of Pyrrho's philosophy was the attitude of epoche or refraining from judgment and 'views'- Greek doxa, Sanskrit dặştiḥ, Pāli dithi. Pyrroh's principle “Not rather this than that"- owden mällon-suggests the analogy with the Jaina principle of Anekānta, the theory of indeterministic truth" or toleration of many modes of truth” as defined by K.C. Bhattacharya in his study of" The Jaina theory of Anekānta (Published in 1925).
The “naked sages” at Taxila described in the reports of Alexander's expedition were Jaina Munis. In keeping with his teaching of epoche Pyrrho lived after his return from India as a “Silent Sage" (Muni) practising the virtues of epoche: aphasia (not talking), ataraxia (dispassion) metropatheia (moderation), apatheia (non-suffering, resulting from indifference to pleasure and pain) adiaphoria (equanimity), isosthenia (equilibrium or Upekkhā mainly with reference to judgement in the closest sense to the Jaina (Anekāntavāda).
Pyrrho's disciple Timon summarised his teacher's doctrine as follows: -
He who wishes to live happily should apply three criterias in considering, first, the nature of things in themselves, secondly, the attitude that he ought to take towards them and finally the consequences of such attitude. In themselves, things do not differ from each other,
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