Jain Journal 1982 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

50
of physical objects more or less correspond to the relative positions of sense data. However, affirmations of percipient being regarding the nature of objects are bound to vary. And this substantiates the Jaina view that no absolute assertion can ever be made about a thing.
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Whitehead's fundamental attitude in philosophy is essentially the same as the anekānta view of life. Whitehead's theory of co-herence comes nearer to anekanta attitude of the Jainas. He elucidates his attitude to Reality by presenting the complete problem of the metaphysics, of substances and of flux as a 'full expression of the union of two notions'. Substance expresses permanence and flux emphasizes impermanence and change. Reality is to be found in the synthesis of the two. He shows that Reality can be best understood by the integral view-point in which the ultimate postulates of permanence and flux are harmoniously blended. This view of Reality is not different from the view held by the advocates of anekantavāda.
The anekanta view does imply the principles of reciprocity an interaction among the Reals of the universe, as given by Kant, although this principle is more implied than expressly stated in Jainism. In Kantianism as in Jainism the principle of reciprocity goes beyond the coexistence or the inter-relatedness of the substances and explains the 'dynamical community' among them. But the Jaina is a through-going realist. Anekantavāda is a theory of Reality which asserts the manifoldness and complexity of the Real.
In their anekāntavāda the Jaina philosophers of ancient India anticipated in substance the famous theory of relativity formulated by Einstein, the great scientist-cum-philosopher of the modern age. The theory of relativity in several forms is akin to the Jaina view of anekanta reality. Einstein explained his theory by such example as: When a man talks to a pretty girl for an hour it seems to him only a minute, but let him it on a hot stove for only a minute and it is longer than an hour.
These and many other such illustrations which we come across in philosophy simply strengthen our faith in the Jaina anekantavāda.
Conclusion: In short, the Jaina doctrine of anekāntavāda, arised out of their view of Reality. It is with the help of this powerful instrument, the Jaina philosophers have steered clear of nihilism on the one hand and absolute monism on the other, as well as of shallow realism