Bhagavana Mahavira and his Relevance in Modern Times

Author(s): Narendra Bhanavat, Prem Suman Jain, V P Bhatt
Publisher: Akhil Bharat Varshiya Sadhumargi Jain Sangh

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Mahāvira and His Relevance
rest of reality. A real is possessed of an infinite number of aspects and attributes which can be thoroughly comprehended only by a person who is directly acquainted with the whole order of reality, in one word, who is omniscient. But this does not mean that the Jaina here offers a counsel of perfection which amounts to a counsel of despair for a person like us whose resources are limited. Though the full knowledge of all the possible characteristics even of a particle of dust cannot be claimed by anyone of us, the knowledge of one or the other attribute can be attained if we are dispassionate and free from bias for one angle of vision and prepared for approaching it from other stand points. The standpoints are called Nayas. A Naya is a viewpoint and way of approach from which a person looks at the particular aspect of a thing impelled by a consideration which is in its turn determined by his interest, inclination and aesthetic, intellectual as well as moral equipment. It is entailed by our mental constitution and the exigencies of the human understanding that we should isolate one aspect of the reality and concentrate upon it. There is nothing to impune its validity or expediency provided it does not make us blind or hostile to the other aspects which present themselves to other viewpoints. The conflict becomes irreconcilable when the advocate of a particular aspect develops a fanatic zeal and refuses to view it from other angles of vision. The rivalry and antagonism among philosophers, followers of different religious creeds and also politicians derive their genesis from this exclusive emphasis upon a particular glimpse of the truth.
As we are interested in the logical problem, we select examples of philosophical interest to drive home the truth of our position. As entity can be viewed as possessed of diverse characteristics as they are unfolded to different ways of approach. For instance, a pen is an existant fact and this shows that it has the character of existence which it shares in common with all other entities. Again, it may be regarded as a pen possessed of penhood which it shares with other pens. Again it is found to possess a distinctive individuality which distinguishes it from all other things -- pens and notpens. Now the first character of existence is entirely devoid of diversity. The second character is diverse and unitive. It is diverse from not-pen and is the unitive common character of all pens. So it may be called genericcu-specific. The third is entirely specific as it belongs to the particular pen. The pen is thus found to possess