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152 First Steps to Jainism
entity relegating the others to the status of mere attributes of that entity :
dharme dharme 'nya evartho dharmino' nantadharminah. angitve nyatamāntasya sesantanam tadangatā.
He then gives a general instruction to his readers, proficient in the application of the nayas to follow the same method of saptabhangi to discuss the problems of 'one and many', and the like, that were prevalent in those days. In fact, he himself discusses the following additional problems in the text under review : identity and differences, permanence and flux, cause and effect, reason and scripture, free will and determinism, idealism & realism, bondage & emancipation.
7(b). Haribhadra : The Anekāntajayapatākā is an important contribution of Haribhadra to the field of anekānta dialectic, which brings within its purview the problems of existence and nonexistence, permanence and flux, universal and particular, and describable and indescribable. Among the doctrines refuted in the treatise, ksanikavāda and vijnanavāda occupy a prominent position. All these refutation are made strictly from the standpoint of Jaina philosphy and sometimes they go to a depth hitherto unreached by his predecessors. The comparative outlook of Haribhadra enabled him to unflod the hidden potentialities of the anekānta principle and apply them in the interest of a comprehensive view of the problems, epistemological and ontological, that exercised the minds of those days.
7 (c). Akalanka : The Astasati (commentary on the Aptamim amsa) of Akalanka provides a most penetrating insight into the niceties of the doctrine of anekānta. His defence of the doctrine is unique and perhaps unsurpassed by any predecessor or successor. He unfolds the thoughts of Samantabhadra in a manner which is comparable to that of Dharmakirti in respect of Dignaga. The Ksanabhangavāda of the Buddists as well as their vijnānavada are vehemently critcized by Akalanka. His contributions to the field of Jaina logic and epistemology are most oirignal and unique, and they set up a norm for the positerity to follow and emulate.
7 (d). Vidyānanda : The Astasahasri (the subcommentary on the Astasati of Akalanka) of Vidyananda is perhaps the last word
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