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CHAPTER I
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is different in each category. When one among these is given prominence, the others become subsidiary.
COMMENTARY
"A naya deals with only the particular aspect in view of the speaker but it does not deny the existence of the remaining attributes. When we speak of the colour of gold, we make no mention of its weight, touch, taste, smell and other attributes, but our statement does not mean that gold is devoid of all the other attributes besides colour. When speaking from a limited point of view, Jaina scholars prefix the word 'syat' to every such predication to signify that the object is of a particular type from a particular standpoint but it is not so from other points of view. Syat suggests the existence of other attributes but does not give primary importance to them.
Nayas deal with the various aspects of reality from their particular angles of vision but they do not predicate the non-existence of other points of view. When one point of view becomes primary, the others become of secondary importance. It is incorrect to suppose that only a particular naya is correct and others are erroneous. As a matter of fact all those standpoints are equally true and valid and lead to correct knowledge, provided that they do not deny the existence of the other points of view, for one will be wholly untrue without the existence of others. In other words, the valid nayas are interdependent and when they become independent, the result is that their very nature is annihilated. For example, the inter-dependence of cotton threads is possessed of the potentiality of warding off cold and providing comfort to the body, but if each of these threads become independent of others, these will not be able to serve the aforesaid purpose. This principle is applied to the doctrine of nayas.
Āchārya Amṛtachandra Sūri has mentioned that as a milk-maid draws part of the rope of the churning rod
