Jainism

Author(s): Vallabh Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabh Smarak Nidhi

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the same object seems to us different. The Jain system believs in realism and holds the existence of all objects to be real. The standpoint from which the Jains explain the existence of the universe is known as Syadavada or Aneka• ntavada.
Critics often say that it is impossible for an object to exist and not to exist at one and the same time. But the object is existent from one point of view and non-existent from another. The object "man" exists as a man but has no existence as an animal. We can prove the existence of the table as a table, but as a bench the table has no exitence. Hence ordinary human beings cannot pass absolute judgment about any object as not all its characters are within the scope of our knowledge.
So, according to the Jains, every judgement should be qualified by the word "Syta" or "somehow" or "from a certain point of view " to avoid possible false statement and the causing of misapprehension. On the basis of Syad avada the Jain logicians have developed the Saptabhanginaya or the seven forms of judgment the details of which can be learned from ancient works as well as from the scholarly