________________
WO
CHAPTER III
THE AGE OF LOGIC I ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ITS THREE STAGES
Like the age of Āgamas, the age of Logic too exhibits certain general characteristics and it is now time that we take due note of them. Wbat a student of the Agamic texts finds to be one of their most striking features is what might be called their closed door' atmosphere; for barring the solitary – though notable - exceptions of Sūtrakstāngasūtra none of these texts ever refers to a rival view that is known to us from other independent sousces. Truly Bhagavati often relates dialogues where somebody reports to Mahavira - 'annautthiya evam vayanti etc.' and the latter retorts ‘annautthiya jam evañ vajanti tam micchā vayanti aham puna evam vayāmi etc.' But heretics thus animadverted are mostly of the nature of the proverbial 'men of straw'; in any case, the views attributed to them are hardly ever such as can be recognized as ones upheld by some well-established nonJaina school of Indian philosophy. With particular force does this account apply to the texts belonging to the first and second stages of the age of Agamas — though it remains essentially valid even in the case of those belonging to the third stage. For in this third stage a somewhat new element relevant for our present purpose seems to have been introduced in the form of the doctrine of 7 nayas. Certainly, it can plausibly be argued that the seven nayas of the Jaina theoreticians of the period represented so many non-Jaina ways of looking at things, ways with which these theoreticians had become acquainted in the course of their day-to-day missionary work. But the argument is weak and the fact seems to be that the advocates of 7 nayas are almost as much 'men of straw as were those annautthiyas of Bhagavati. In any case, no Āgamic text ever mention a well-established non-Jaina school of philosophy as an upholder of this naya or that. Of course, this does not mean that the doctrine of 7 nayas was formulated in utter isolation from the contemporary development taking place within the field of Indian Philosophy in general. But that is not the point. For to be sure not only the doctrine of 7 nayas but all doctrines too developed by the Jainas were formulated in close relationship to the de. velopments taking place within the field of Indian philosophy in general - and how the task was executed in each period of history is to be laid bare by the historians of Jaina philosophy in particular and Indian philosophy in general. What is being emphasised is that even while developing the doctrine of 7 nayas the Agamic texts make no explicit reference to a nonJaina school of philosophy, nor can it be made out that such a reference
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
