Ethnicity and Religious Heritage

Author(s): T U Mehta
Publisher: T U Mehta

Page 66

Anekantvad and Its Importance In Life Part-1
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what circumstances a particular statement or event has come into existence, Syadvad helps us in arriving at the synthesis of all apparently inconsistent statements. This increases our understanding and tolerance.
Etymological meaning of the word "Syad" is "if" or "perhaps". But here the Jains have used it to suggest a possibility because as noted above, everything, ieda or statement has relations with something else, and therefore, likely to be relatively true or false. Therefore absolute rejection or acceptance thereof without knowing its relativity would lead us to some fallacy. Bertrand Russell rightly observe :- "The distinctive feature of an unintelligent man is the hastiness and absoluteness of his opinion. The scientist is slow to believe and never speaks without modification - always ready to concede that it may be wrong."
If we analyze the process of human judgment ; we find that it involves two important factors. They are (1) our limited knowledge about different