Indian Culture and Jainism

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Vidya Samsthan

Page 20

estimation and Ekantic view of reality. Pramāņa assimilates all the characteristics at once without any contradiction and animosity between one characteristic and the other, for instance, between one and many, existent and non-existent, etc. Of the unfathomable characteristics, Naya chooses one at one moment, but keeps in view the other characteristics also. "Though the Jaina thinker has made critical estimation of the philosophical assumptions of other schools of thought, they paid proper respect to them and accept their truth-value on the basis of different Nayas39." We can thus say that both Pramāna and Naya are essential for the proper understanding of the nature of reality. Reality being the respository of infinite attributes, the apprehension of it from a particular angle of vision, i.e., Naya, which is objectively given and not subjectively contemplated, does not exhaust the whole of the multiphased reality.
We may point out here that corresponding to the infinite antagonistic charcteristics, there are infinite Nayas. But summarily speaking, all the Nayas from the metaphysical point of view can be summed up into two kinds, namely, Dravyārthika Naya and Paryāyārthika Naya. These two Nayas can very well expound the nature of reality, or substance. Dravyārthika Naya refers to the permanent aspect of a substance and Paryāyārthika Naya refers to the changing aspect of a substance.
(iii) Axiological Anekānta
For the proper intelligibility of the Anekāntic reality, Jaina Ācāryas have given us two Nayas, namely Dravyārthika Naya and Paryāyārthika Naya corresponding to the permanent and changing aspects of reality. This type of comprehension yields intellectual satisfaction, yet it does not show us the way to spiritual growth, satisfaction and self-realisation. Axiological consciousness is very much different from descriptive consciousnes produced by metaphysical curiosity of the human mind. So the Jaina Ācāryas have propounded two axiological Nayas, namely Niscaya and Vyavahāra for properly evaluating the manifested and unmanifested Paryāyas of self. Thus we have axiological Anekānta and the metaphysical Anekānta.
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