Jain Journal 2013 07

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

Page 34

Dr. Anupam Jash: The central philosophy of Jainism and Sri Ramakrishna's
prakaraṇa, and Nyāyāvatāra. The application of the anekānta principle to ontological problems raised most probably, for the first time by Siddhasena Divakara in his book Nyāyāvatāra and Sanmatitarka prakaraṇa.
Siddhasena in his book Nyāyāvatāra says: Anekāntāmākaṁ vastu gocaraḥ sarvasamvidam Ekadeśavistohartho nayasyaviḥayomataḥ
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'Since a thing has infinite characters, it is a compfehended only by the omniscient. But a thing becomes the subject matter of a naya, when it is conceived from one particular standpoint Interesting in his following statement of Sanmatitarka:
jāvaiya vayanavaha tavaiya ceva homti nayavaya jāvaiya nayavaya tavaiya tavaiya ceva parasamaya.'
'there are as many views of the form of nayas as there are the ways of speaking, while there are as many non-Jaina rival philosophical tenets as there are views of the form of nayas'. Again he declares:
niyayavayanijjasacca savvanaya paraviyalane moha Te una na ditthasamayo vibhayai sacce va aliya vālo
'All the standpoints (nayas) are right in their own respective spheres--but if they are taken to be refutations, each of the other, then they are wrong. But a man who knows the 'non-onesided' (anekānta) nature of reality never says that a particular view is absolutely wrong'.
Jainism through its philosophy of anekānta, inculcates in its followers the spirit of tolerance for all religions. Haribhadra, the great Jain ācāryya, has tried to show that there is no essential difference between one religion and another. As there is no controversy regarding the highest goal of all religions, there should be none regarding the path leading to that goal. He says that the same truth is expressed by different terms in different religions. Thus the self-same principle of consciousness is known as purusa in the Vedanta, paramātman in