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સ્ત૧૪. ]
Nyaya-Kusumanjali
indicated that there are only seven ways of making a statement about an attribute of any object.
The word Syat is an indeclinable and it suggests that every object can be studied from more than one stand-point. In other words, it means 'some how', i, e., from some particular stand-point. Proper care must be taken to avoid the chance of confounding this word with the third person singular potential form of the root "As" "to be.' It is a common mistake to translate this word by may be " 'perhaps'. The reason of using this word in the mode of expression is to make it clear that there are other possible aspects of studying an object, besides the one in question. These other aspects are not denied, but it is that they are given a secondary place, whereas the predication under consideration is given predominance over other possible ones.
Ce
or
Predication is the statement of our conclusions with reference to an object. It is either affirmative or negative; for, we generally want to convey the existence or non-existence of an attribute of an object. There is a great likelihood for confusion to arise when we intend to sum up the affirmative as well as the negative conclusions in one and the same judgment To avoid this we stand in need of a method of logical predication. Such a method is supplied by Sapta-bhangi as it covers all sorts of simple as well as complex judgments by means of
* ' स्याद् ' नेकान्तद्योतकमव्ययम् ।
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