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Jaina view of Life
mentioned two points of view: i) Samgraha Naya, the point of view of the universal, the synthetic point of view and ii) Paryayika Naya, the view-point of the particular, the analytic point of view. Siddhasena Divākara in his Sanmati Tarka adopted the two points of view and distributed the Nayas under two heads. He described the six Nayas. But the generally accepted classification of Nayas is sevenfold. Three of them refer to objects and their meaning, and the others to the words. In the first category we get three: i) Samgraha Naya, ii) Vyavahāra Naya, and iii) Ṛjusūtra Naya. Siddhasena Divakara says that Samgraha and Vyavahāra are subdivisions of the Dravyarthika Naya.18 Samgraha Naya gives the synthetic point of view. It gives, as Radhakrishnan points out, the class point of view. In this, we seek to approach the unity amidst the diversity by finding the common element in the variety presented in the world. Absolute monism is the conclusion of this point of view. Exaggerated emphasis on the universal would lead to Samgrahābhāsa; and Samkhya and Advaita schools of philosophy are notable instances. 19 The absolute emphasis on the One and unity dismissing all diversity as appearance, is the position of the absolutists. The Jainas maintain that such a point of view, if it is taken in the absolute sense, presents a partial point of view.
18
Vyavahāra Naya is the empirical point of view. It is the analytic point of view. It emphasises the diversity in the universe presented in the experience. We know things in their details and emphasize their individuality. The attitude of the pluralists and the materialists is the outcome of the view.
Ṛjusūtra Naya is narrower than the Vyavahāra Naya. It looks at an object at a particular point of time, and does not see the continuity of the thing. The Jainas say that the
18. Sanmati Tarka, Ch. 1, verse 3, 4. Compare Viseṣāvas yaka Bhāṣyo, gatha 75.
19. Pramana-tattva-lokālankara, Vadideva Suri. VII, 17 and 18, Also refer to Syādvādaratnākara of the same author.
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