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JAIN JOURNAL VOL-XXXVIII, NO. 2 OCT. 2003
made to the logic and epistemology. It is the foundational principle for philosophical position of the Jainas. Anekānta is the basic attitude of mind which expresses the fundamental principle that reality is complex and it can be looked at from different points of view. The points of view are the naya and the nayas is the psychological expression of the basic principle of Anekānta. Syādvāda is the logical expression of Nayavāda in predication from. It has the significance of expression and communication in the logical and predictional pattern.
Jainism has presented to the world two significant instruments of understanding and expression: one is the Nayavāda and the other Syadvāda. The Nayavāda enables one to analyse the various points of view and appraise their relative validity. It is a remarkable method for the analytical comprehension of a complex question. Naya is a particular approach. It reveals a partial or a particular view of the totality, and it should not be mistaken for the whole. A synthesis of these different viewpoints is an imperative necessity; therein every viewpoint must retain its relative position: and this need is fulfilled by Syadvāda. One can say 'yes' or say 'no' or even express one's inability to state anything: these three basic statements, when combined, can give rise to seven predications which are qualified by the term 'Syat' or may be indicating the limits of understanding and expression. Syadvāda, in course of the process of assertion or denial, curbs down and harmonises the absolute viewpoints of individual Nayas3.
According to another classification, the nayas are broadly categorised as the niscaya-naya and the vyavahāra-naya. The first denotes the real, essential and substantial point of view and the other the practical, conventional, popular and relative point of view. The first deals with the pure, essential, real and intrinsic nature of the substance, and the second views the substance through its relationship with other substance, or through the conditions caused in it under extraneous influences; the one is permanent and everlasting and the other emphemeral, transitory and perishable.
In the eyes of Jaina philosophy, everything is multifaceted. It is neither only true nor only false, neither eternal nor transitory. It can be true from some angle and false from some other. According to one notion it may be eternal and according to anoher it may be transitory. Existence of various shades of one and the same thing amounts to Anekāntavāda. Svādvāda is an apt synonym for it. While
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