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COMMON SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE....
relation of words. this view combines both the theories abhihitānvaya and anivtābhidhāna and maintains that as far as verbal comprehension in concerned, the import of a sentence consists in tatparya—the intention.
Jaina View of Testimony_Śabda Import of Words
Testimony : It is knowledge from authority. The authoritative knowledge is produced by the words. The authority is one who knows the object as it is and describes it according to his knowledge. The statement which is the result of authority can never be false. The authority is of two types : (i) ordinary (ii) extraordinary, which can also be described as human and superhuman respectively. If the source is ordinary human being it is ordinary authority. On the other hand, if the source is superhuman, that is, Tīrthankaras in Jainism, who are omniscient beings, then authority is called extraordinary. Hence the knowledge which is acquired from their words is called āgama. Agama means the word of an Apta, i. e. authority, a person who is free from debasing emotions and, therefore, he knows a thing as it is and describes it in accordance with his knowledge. His saying is never false and is free from inconsistencies. Here, the difference between Jaina and Nyāya view of knowledge must be noted. The Jainas do not believe in authority of the Vedās which are regarded as embodiment of authoritative knowledge by orthodox systems of India. Orthodox systems like Mīmāṁsā believe in authority of the Vedās which are regarded as eternally self-existence because not man-made. However, Nyāya though, believes in authority of the Vedās, believes in productive nature of statements as against
