Jainism from the View Point of Vedantic Acaryas

Author(s): Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: B J Institute

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56 Jainism from the view point of Vedāntic Acāryas losophy and Religion, pp. 232-234).
This Syādvāda or Anekāntavāda is said to be the foundation of Jaina philosophy. Jaina thinkers have given equal status to this doctrine with omniscience (Kevalajñāna). Ācārya Samantabhadra in his Aptamimāṁsā clearly says that “both Syıdvāda and Kevalajñāna illuminate the whole reality. The difference between them is only this much that while the fouiner illuminates the objects indirectly, the latter illuminates them directly. (PIIGIG G5 HodoohTI I 96: HTAN-GHT Elafrar varai Aptamimāṁsā, 105)
Vedāntic Ācāryas and others, criticise the Syādvāda on the ground of the impossibility of contradictory attributes co-existing in the same thing. To attribute both existence and non-existence, permanency and change to one and the same thing involves law of contradiction.
In defence of their doctrine of Syādvāda, Jainas say that there is no contradiction involved and no violation of law of contradiction in applying opposite predicates to the same thing in different capacities, because, they are applied to its different aspects, such as matter, state, space and time (Faly-25-01T-91a: Ara 2698151016
d: 374774 1 - Syādvādamañjari, p. 130). It is seen that mutually contradictory elements can exist in one and the same thing in different capacity such as the same man is a father to his son, son to his father, husband to his wife, and so on. (1) 491 Taher care fail, FT, FILM, भागिने यः इत्येवमादयः सम्बन्धाः जनकत्वजन्यत्वादिनिमित्ताः न