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ANEKANTAVADA SYADVADA
the point of view of the infinite characteristics of a substance, the stand points are of numerous subdivisions. They are interde pendent and their harmonious combination paves the way to right faith. Pujyapada likens each of them to a cotton thread: when the threads are properly woven, they form a garment comforting the body in the form of a cloth; but if each of them is taken separately and independently, they serve no purpose.18 The effect of cloth is present in each of the threads potentially but it is only when they are combined that they assist the right belief. Nayavāda is a warning to those philosophers who assert that their system is absolute and all comprehensive; it shows the way to a reconciliation of conflicting view-points and harmonization of all stand-points by appreciating the relativity of the different aspects of reality.
Nayas thus reveal only a part of the totality and they should not be mistaken for the whole. Because of this infinite-fold constitution of a thing, there shall be infinite Nayas, and the same can be classified under broad heads as seven, two and so forth. As Akalanka defines, Naya is a particular approach of the knower (nayo jnātur abhiprayaḥ). A synthesis of these different viewpoints is a practical necessity; therein every view-point must be able to retain its relative importance and this is fulfilled by Syādvāda, 19
Syadvāda
It is clear that the analytical stand-points refer to partial truths and it is only their synthetic combination that will bring harmony into a coherent scheme of knowledge. That is the synthetical method employed by the doctrine of Syädvada. This is illustrated by many Jaina thinkers by the parable of seven blind men and the elephant. One blind man feels the leg and says that the elephant is like a pillar: the other feels its body and says that it is like a wall; the third feels its ear and says that it is like a winnowing pan. Thus each feels only one organ of the elephant and regards that it alone represents the whole truth. For a person who can see the whole elephant with his own eyes, it is clear that individual
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