________________
Verse 109
A sentence asserts, either positively or negatively, a particular characteristic of the multifarious nature of an entity:
नियम्यतेऽर्थो वाक्येन विधिना वारणेन वा । तथाऽन्यथा च सोऽवश्यमविशेष्यत्वमन्यथा ॥१०९॥
सामान्यार्थ - (वस्तु-तत्त्व के अनेकान्तात्मक होते हुए भी उसे वाक्य द्वारा कैसे नियमित किया जाता है उसका समाधान -) अनेकान्तात्मक वस्तु-तत्त्व का विधि-वाक्य अथवा निषेध-वाक्य के द्वारा नियमन होता है। अनेकान्तात्मक होने से वस्तु-तत्त्व विधि-रूप भी है और निषेध-रूप भी है। यदि ऐसा न माना जाए तो केवल विधि-वाक्य अथवा केवल निषेध-वाक्य से जो एकान्त-रूप विशेष्य (वस्तु-तत्त्व) है वह अवस्तु ही है।
In the doctrine of non-absolutism (anekāntavāda), a sentence asserts, either positively (vidhi) or negatively (nişedha), a particular characteristic of the multifarious nature of an entity. Irrespective of whether the sentence asserts the characteristic positively or negatively, both such (seemingly contradictory) characteristics are present in it. Without the acceptance of this feature (i.e., if only the positive or the negative characteristic is assumed to be present in the entity), the entity is bound to become a nonentity (avastu).
The basic thesis in Jainism is the non-one-sided (anekānta) nature of reality. A thing is supposed to have infinite-fold characteristics or properties. It becomes imperative, therefore, to apply all kinds of predicates, including seemingly contradictory ones, to describe its singular aspect depending on one's point of view. To illustrate, an entity has an aspect that
167
