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sutra of Tattvārtha Sūtra by Umāsvāti (samyag-darśana-jñāna-cāritranimokşamārgah). Only with right attitude and right knowledge are we in a position to tread the path of supreme ethical principles of ahimsā and aparigraha in our life.
Anekānta emphasizes the basic attitude of mind in the understating of reality or truth, which has infinite number of aspects. To explain such complex nature of reality, Mallişeņa used the phrase, anantadharmātmakaṁ vastu." Reality, therefore, can be seen from different points of view. One point of view reveals another aspect. The story of six blind men getting different images of an elephants this well. None of the pictures given is incorrect but it is not complete either. Therefore, the predications about these pictures are not absolute but are only relative. Anekānta helps in comprehending a fuller picture, absorbing numerous aspects of reality. Thus, reality is "eternal" and "non-eternal". Neither of the two alternatives is true or false absolutely. An existent (sat) is real in relation to its four-fold qualities (svabhāva) i.e. substance, place, time & nature (dravya, kşetra, kāla and bhāva); it is non-existent (asat) in relation to otherness (parabhāva). In other words, anekānta is an attempt to overcome extreme views or one-sidedness. One can say, this is the operation of 'Rashomon effect'. 3 This expression conveys the idea that all facts and events are subject to multiple interpretations. Thus, the attitude of anekānta could work as the starting point of eliminating or, at least, reducing religious, social, political, familial conflicts, which often culminate in intolerance at all levels national and even international. In more general sense anekānta is the true spirit of ahimsā, which does not remain confined to the individual's code of conduct alone but reaches metaphysical and, more importantly, societal plane.
Anekāntavāda with its corollaries of nayavāda and syādvāda serves a complete and exhaustive philosophy of life.4 Anekāntavāda is the metaphysical outlook of Jainas as it posits the multi-dimensional aspect of reality. However, it is essentially a social philosophy of relevance which can make our social existence meaningful and peaceful. Human existence
Umāsvāti, Tattvārtha Sutra. Translated with an introduction by Nathmal Tatia (San Francisco and Manchester: Harper Collins, 1944): 1-1 2 Mallisena, Syadvādamamañjari 5. 3 The term is coined after a Japanese film, Roshomon. The film depicts a story of murder narrated differently by various eyewitnesses.
Devendramuni Shastri, A source Book of Jaina Philosophy, Translated By T.G. Kalghatgi (Udaipur, Sri Tarakguru Jain Granthalaya, 1983), pp. 239-40, 256.
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