________________
Jaina Logic
365
sive of a partial truth about an object-as entertained by a knowing agent or speaker. Nayas do not interfere with one another or enter into conflict
h one another. They do not contradict one another. They uphold their own objects without rejecting others' objects.
Naya becomes durnaya (pseudo-standpoint), when it denies all other standpoints, contradicts them, excludes them absolutely and puts forward its partial truth as the whole truth.
From ancient times, men and intellectual pundits have been fighting with one another, because on their part they have not made any systematic attempt to understand one another's viewpoints as also because they have completely yielded to passions of pride and arrogance. If even the religious leaders and teachers had made sincere efforts to understand, with cool mind, one another's viewpoints, they would have grasped the positive and beneficial significance of one another's viewpoints and the wisdom embodied in them. In that case, they would have created and spread among the people the atmosphere exuding fragrance of accord and love. And as a result, we would have been blessed to witness today the sweet feeling of friendliness pervading the entire humanity. But we are not fortunate enough to see such a pleasing sight.
Generally, a man's cognitive operation is but partial in its coverage while he suffers from too much egoism and conceit. The result is that whatever little consideration he bestows on a subject tends to be treated by him as final and complete. And on account of the tendency in question he loses patience to give thought to the views of others. So ultimately he comes to mistakenly view his partial knowledge as complete knowledge. The mistaken view in its turn renders impossible a feeling of accord among persons holding true but different views concerning one and the same thing. The doctrine of standpoints (nayavāda) teaches us to see the truth in each and every view and to respect it.
Different systems of thought are formulated depending upon the different viewpoints about one and the same thing or Reality. These different systems of thought are nayas. The cultured, all-comprehensive and non-one-sided standpoint or outlook examines the different viewpoints
1. “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-one-sided' nature of reality never says that a particular view is absolutely wrong."-Sanmati-tarka, I. 28
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
