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Jaina Theory of Multiple Facets of Reality and Truth
There remains much scope to be scrutinized whether Vadideva's interpretation was accepted almost intact by his successors. Though it is an undeniable fact that non-Jaina polemical works, almost without exception, give an intentional misinterpretation to the Jaina doctrine, there are found very often some misleading elucidations about the syadvada in question even among modern Indologists. Such being the case, , this article is intended for giving an outlined account of the theory of syādvāda, on the basis of a Jaina work Syadvadamañjarī of Mallisena, though paying little regard to its historical development.
Nevertheless, prior to taking up the question at issue, it might be advisable to give a brief account of various uses of syādvāda in chronological order of important Jaina logicians.
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1. Mahavira mentions, in Jaina Āgama texts, two kinds of knowledge or its means viz., pramāņa and naya, but not a single word of syādvāda (Pkt. siya-vaya). However, there occur in them often enough propositions qualified by 'siya', in reply to questions like 'Is the world eternal or transitory?'
paramānu poggale nam bhante eyati veyati jāva tam bhavam pariņamati?/ siya eyati veyati java parinamati, siya no eyati jāva no parinamati/ (Viahap. V.7)1
And again, explaining to the effect that any entity can be expressed by manifold way in accordance as it has different location, time and mode etc., he mentions 'in some respect, it can be expressed as such and such' (tti vattavvam siyā). And in case 'siya' is not in use, ' avattavvam' (inexpressible) is mentioned, but it has not a seven-fold formula.2 2. Umāsvāti describes in his Tattvārthādhigamasutra 1.5 that 'Knowledge [of seven categories] is obtainable by means of pramana and naya
1. Cf. Nyāyāvatāravārttikavṛtti, ed. by Dalsukh Malvania, Singhi Jain Series No. 20, Bombay 1949, Intr. pp.35-50.
2. Cf. Walther Schubring: Die Lehre der Jainas, Berlin u. Leibzig 1935, ss.1078.
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