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Buddha's method was one of withdrawal from philosophic disputes, for he avoided committing himself to any extreme view. In the Niryukti of Sutrakrtānga Sūtra, we find that during the . period of Mahavira, the Jina, four doctrines were prominent
asiyasayam kiriyāṇam, akkiriyāṇam cahai culasīti.
annāņiya satatthi veņaiyāṇam ca battīsa.'
i) kriyāvāda ii) akriyāvāda iii) ajāñavāda, iv) vinayavāda and sub-branches of four doctrines were 363 in number. In that period also, so many diverse philosophies prevailed. But Mahāvīra's method was one of the commitment, for he attempted to understand the points of view of the debating parties in a philosophical dispute), so that their dispute could be resolved and reconciled. Thus the essence of the anekāntavāda lies in exposing and making explicit the standpoints or presuppositions of different philosophical schools of thought.
The sevenfold predication was historically a later development in Jainism, for we do not find it clearly mentineda in the early canons. A.N. Upadhye, however, has located references to the three primary predicates (instead of seven) in the Bhagavatī Sūtra. In this context, let me quotes Jocobi's statement that in opposition to the Agnosticism of Şañjaya, Mahāvīra has established the syādvāda which served to silence some strictly dogmatic opponents." Undoubtedly the above statement of the learned scholar is thoughtful and requires considerable attention. To make the point more clear, in the words of Prof. Barua, who follows the same view, we can say that "to avoid error, Sañjaya contended with the four famous negative propositions: A is not B; A is not nor B; A is not both B and not-B; A is neither B nor not-B. It is with regard to the
Sūtrakrtānga Niryukti, gāthā-112. A.NUpadhye. Introduction to Pravacanasāra. Bombay, 1995, p. 83. Sacred Book of East. Vol. XLV. Ed. Hermann Jacobi, p. XXVII.
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