________________
344
Jaina Philosophy and Religion
arises in his mind a doubt: 'Is this a rope or a serpent?' When one sees a stump of a tree from a distance, there arises in his mind a doubt: 'Is this a man or a stump of a tree?' Like these two, there are so many well known instances of doubt. In the above instances, the intellect goes on vacillating between two alternatives, viz., a rope and a serpent, a man and a stump of a tree, unable to ascertain one, excluding the other. But one does not find this nature of doubt in syādvāda. Syädvāda asks us to examine a thing from different standpoints and to ascertain a particular attribute in a thing from a particular standpoint. When one examines a thing from various standpoints, one understands that it is certainly existent from one standpoint and certainly non-existent from another standpoint; similarly, that it is certainly permanent from one standpoint and certainly impermanent from another standpoint. A thing is certainly existent from the standpoint of its own substance, place, time and attribute (or state), and certainly non-existent from the standpoint of alien substance, etc. It is certainly permanent from the standpoint of its substance, and certainly impermanent from the standpoint of its modes. Syādvāda which is of the nature of acceptance of seemingly opposite attributes in a thing when found consistent with one another from different standpoints, can never be regarded as scepticism or a doctrine of uncertainty. In fact, syādvāda is certainly not scepticism, but the doctrine of conditional certainty.
syād nitya eva ghataḥ, syād anitya eva ghațaḥ| From a certain point of view, or in a certain sense, the pot is certainly permanent; from a certain point of view, or in a certain sense, the pot is certainly impermanent.
The particle 'eva' is here used in the sense of 'certainly' 'without doubt'. Thus the above sentences qualified by the particle 'eva' are statements of certainty and not of doubt. The statement 'syad asty eva ghataḥ' means: 'the pot is existent, there is no doubt about it.' But this existence is not absolute and unconditional. Otherwise, the pot would exist as a pillar or anything else. The pot is certainly existent, but under certain conditions. This conditionality of existence is expressed by the term 'syāt', which means 'from a particular viewpoint' 'in a certain sense' 'under certain conditions'. Thus the term 'syāt' is not to be translated into English as 'may be' 'probably' 'perhaps' which yield the sense of doubt. What is the use of such words yielding the sense of doubt, in the statement or doc
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
