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
adopt a synoptic view towards the problems of Philosophy. We should realise that reality is complex and life is a many-coloured dome. Idealism was unable to see the trees in the wood, while empiricism could not see the wood in the trees. These were two ways of approa. ching the problem; but they are not the only ways, nor were the approaches absolute. This is the synoptic outlook.
The Jaina view of anekānta comes nearer to this approach. Anekānta consists in a many aided approach to the study of problems. Intellectual tolerance is the foundation of this doctrine. It eaphasizes the many-sidedness of truth. Reality can be looked at from various angles.
Although Anekānta was a special feature of the Jaina point of view, it is possible to say that some other schools of thought were aware of the view. In Buddhist Philosophy the phrase "majjhima magga" bears the same significance as Anekānta. It is suggested that the doctrine of evolution as propounded by the Samkhya school implies the Anekānta attitude. The Jainas perfected the doctrine and systematized it. In the Bhagavatīsūtra, there is a dialogue between Mahāvira and his disciple Gautama.
“Are the souls, O Lord, etes nal or non-eternal “The souls are eternal in some respects and
non-eternal in some other respects”......"They are eternal, O Gautama, from the point of view of substance and non-eternal from the point of view of modes.”
Two doctrines result from the anekāntavāda : (1) Nayavāda and (2) Syādavāda. Nayavāda is 'primarily conceptual and the Syādvāda is synthetic and mainly verbal.• Naya refers to the point of view one takes when one looks at the object. A naya is defined as a particular opinion or a view point of looking at an object. A methodological scheme consisting of seven ways of looking at reality has been formulated. The Āgamas have mentioned two points of view : (1) Samgraha naya, the second Paryāyika naya. Siddhasena Divākara adopted the two points of view and distributed the nayas under two heads. He described the six nayas. But the generally accepied classification of nayas is sevenfold. For instance the noumenal point of view in the Samvaha Naya or the Niscaya naya and the Phenomenal point of view is the Vyavahāra Naya. According to the Jainas, Nyāya vaiśeşika Sāṁkhya, Advaita Vedānta and the Buddhist systems adopt one of the nayas, but they believe that their