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As per the view of Ācārya Mahāprajña, there are five principles of anekānta. They are as follows:
(i) Co-existence (ii) Relativity (iii) Reconciliation' (iv) Tolerance
(v) Equanimity.? (i) Co-existence
The first principle of anekānta is Co-existence. Anything or anybody existent must have their opposite, yat sat tat sapratipakşam. Without the opposite, naming is impossible and so is characterization. The animate and the inanimate are two extremes. Yet they co-exist. The body is inanimate; the soul is animate. They co-exist. The permanent and the impermanent, the similar and the dissimilar, the identical and the different, all these are mutually contradictory; yet they co-exist. They coexist in an object.The acceptance of infinite opposing attributes in an entity or object is called anekānta.' The permanent substance is not altogether separate from the impermanent modes, nor is the latter completely separated from the former. Co-existence implies tolerance and freedom of thought. Both tolerance and freedom of thought are meaningless, if we try to enforce our likes, ideas, lifestyle and principles on others.
. If a person claims his thesis to be truth the absolute on the basis of his comprehension of only a particular aspect of the object, then certainly he is going beyond what he has
'Ācārya Mahāprajña. Anekānt: The Third Eye, op.cit., p. 20.. ? Ācārya Mahāprajña. Anekānta Hein Tisrā Netra. op.cit., p. 23. 3 Ācārya Mahāprajña. Ekanta Mai Anekānta: Anekānta Mai Ekant. Ed.
Sādhvi Vishruta Vibha. Delhi: Jain Vishva Bharati, 2006, p. 202. * Sanmati Tarkaprakarana. op.cit., verse-1.12.
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