Facets of Jain Philosophy Religion and Culture

Author(s): Shreechand Rampuriya, Ashwini Kumar, T M Dak, Anil Dutt Mishra
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 27

10 Anekantavāda and Syadvāda
non-absolutism were not effective in the Agamic period. Nor is it a valid assumption that these axioms were discovered in the period of philosophical speculations. The difference, if any, lay in the spheres of the application of these axioms in those two periods. In the Agamic period, the principles were applied mainly in the field of ontology, while in the speculative age it was in demand for the synthesis of philosophical issues of all types.
The Concomitance of Being and Non-being The following dialogue between Lord Mahāvira and his disciple Gautama throws welcome light on the problem.
Gautama : 0 Lord ! Does being change into being ? Does non-being change into non-being ?
Lord : Yes, Gautama ! This is exactly so.
Gautama : 0 Lord ! Does this change of being into being and non-being into non-being take place qwing to some effort or occur spontaneously?
Lord : Gautama ! It is effected by effort and also occurs spontaneously.
Gautama: 0 Lord ! Does your non-being change into non-being exactly in the same way as your being changes into being ? Similarly does your being change into being exactly as your non-being changes into non-being ?
Lord : Yes Ciutama ! That is exactly so.11
The above dialogue clearly defines Lord Mahāvira's assertion of the concomitance of being and non-being in the same entity as also their distinct causal identities.
Lord Mahāvīra rejected both the propositions viz. everything exists (sarvan asti) and nothing exists (sarvam bästi). He proposed a synthesis of the two. Both being and non-being are ture. They are distinct, though predicable of the same entity. The distinctness of the two is unambiguously demonstrated in the following words of
11. Bhagavai. 1.133-135.
se nūnam bhante ! atthittam atthitte parinama ? natthittam natthitle parinanai? hantā goyama! atthittam atthitte parinamai. je nam bhante! atthittam atthitte pariņamai, natthittam natthitte parinamai. tam kim payogasa? visasa? goyama! payogasă vi tam, visasā vi tam. jaha te bhante ! atthittama'thitte pariņamai, natthittam natthitte parinamai? Jahā te natthittam natthiite pariņamai, tahā te atthittam atthitte parinamai ? hantā goyama! jahā me atthittam atthitte parinamai, tahā me natthittam natthitte parinamai. jaha me natthittam natthitte pariņamai, tahā me atthittam atthitte parinamai.