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"I very much like this doctrine of the manyness of reality. It is this doctrine that has taught me to judge a Muslim from his standpoint and a Christian from his. From the platform of the Jains, I prove the noncreative aspect of God, and from that of Rämänuja the creative aspect. As a matter of fact we are all thinking of the unthinkable describing the indescribable, seeking to know the unknown, and that is why our speech falters, is inadequate and been often contradictory." The history of all conflicts and confrontations in the world is the history of intolerance born out of ignorance. Difficulty with the human being is his/her egocentric existence. If only the human being becomes conscious of his/her own limitations! Anekänta or Syädväda tries to make the human being conscious of his/her limitation by pointing to his narrow vision and limited knowledge of the manifold aspects of things, and asks him/her not be hasty in forming absolute judgments before examining various other aspects - both positive and negative. Obviously, much of the bloodshed, and much of tribulations of mankind would have been saved if the human being had shown the wisdom of understanding the contrary viewpoints. The doctrine of Syädväda also clarifies the metaphysical doctrine of 'Self' envisaged by the Jains. The proposition 'Syäd Asti' is positive in character and points out the positive attributes of the thing in question. These are individual attributes, which belong to and are inherent in the thing in question. Therefore, when the proposition 'Syäd Asti' is applied to 'Self', it conveys that 'Self' is justified in its existence only from the point of view of its own individual attributes, modes, space and time. However, when the other proposition of the doctrine namely 'Syät Nästi' is applied to it, it means the 'Self' does not possess the attributes and modes which do not belong to it. It is just like a pot that can be identified as a 'pot' only if it carries the attributes of a 'pot' but it cannot be identified as a pot if it carries the attributes, which are foreign to it. So the negative identification of 'Syät Nästi' when applied to 'Self' would mean, that if the self tries to adopt the attributes of Pudgal (matter) which are foreign to it, it is not the 'self'. In other words, Syädväda teaches us that 'Self' can be identified positively as 'Syäd Asti' only if it is viewed from its own attributes, and negatively as 'Syäd Nästi' to show that it is not Pudgal, etc. if it is viewed from the attributes that are foreign to it. Thus, the doctrine of Syädväda gives clarity to the real character of the 'Self' and by the same process of reasoning, the real character of 'Pudgal', i.e., non-sentient things. Anekäntaväda and Ahimsa However, the important aspect of Anekantavada and Syädväda is the subtlety with which it introduces the practice of Ahimsa (nonviolence) even in the realm of thought. The moment one begins to consider the angle from which a contrary viewpoint is put forward, one begins to develop tolerance, which is the basic requirement of the practice of 'Ahimsa'. The origin of all bloody wars fought on the surface of this earth can be traced to the war of ideas, beliefs and disagreements. Anekäntaväda and Syädväda puts a healing touch at the root of the human psyche and tries to stop the war of beliefs, which lead to the war of nerves and then to the war of bloodshed. It makes all absolutes in the field of thought quite irrelevant and naive, and it imparts maturity to the thought process and supplies flexibility and originality to the human mind. If mankind will properly understand and adopt this doctrine of Anekantavada and Syädväda, it will realize that real revolution was not the French or Russian; the real revolution was the one, which taught man to develop his/her power of understanding from all possible aspects.
JAIN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE - 2
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