Jain Journal 1989 10

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

Page 17

50
alleged Creator, i.e. God Himself shares the nature of being an effect. This line of argument will lead the Naiyayika to admit that God, being Himself an effect, presupposes another intelligent cause and that intelligent cause in its turn still another and so on without any rest. Thus, in short, it results in a vicious infinite regress or ad infinitum or anavasthä.2
JAIN JOURNAL
But in order to avoid the charge of infinite regress (anavasthā), the Naiyayika may refuse to declare the changeability in the nature of the Supreme Lord. But in doing so, he will have to forego the creative activity (kāryakāritva) of God."
The Naiyayika says that God creates, but He creates occasionally. But 'occasionally' means the relation of an object which was non-existent before to a subsequent point of time. So, occasionality of an event means that an effect sometime exists and sometimes it does not. It should be carefully remembered that occasionality of an event does not simply imply a relation to a subsequent moment, since not only non-eternal objects but eternal objects as well relate to a fixed subsequent moment. But it is quite obvious that there can be any occasionality with regard to an object which is eternal. So, occasional creation is irreconcilable with eternal creative activity. The temporal limitation remains inexplicable. If God were not liable to change and possessed of creative urge at the sametime, creation would have always happened. But, infact, no object is produced at all times. This is an accepted truth that occasional effect must have an occasional cause. An enternal cause of an occasional effect is simply unthinkable.
Thus, we have seen above how the Jaina examines the possible definition of an effect, which may be advanced by the Naiyayika and proves that it is vitiated by defect. So, the syllogism of the Naiyayika for the inference (anumāna) of God as the creator of the universe involves the fallacy of unreality of proban (hetväsiddhi).
Again, the Jaina proceeds to show that the doctrine of God as the creator of the world is also unworthy of acceptance, because of a number
2 satovastuno' nyathabhavo hi vikaritvam. tacce 'svarasya'py asti 'tyasya' parabuddhimaddhetukatvaprasangad anavastha syat.-Gunaratna, Ibid., p. 118.
avikaritveca' syakaryakaritvam atidurghatam.-Gunaratna, Ibid., p. 118.
⚫ purvakalasattve saty uttarakalasattvam kadacitkatvam.-Varadaraja, Nyayakusumanjalibodhani, a commentary on Udayana's Nyayakusumanjali, (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series, 1950), p. 54.