Nyayavatara and Nayakarnika

Author(s): Siddhasena Divakar, Vinayvijay, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal

Page 137

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Nyāyāvatāra: 30.
part of the Jaina scripture which teaches us to comprehend things from any particular standpoint; and 3) hearing of the all-sided method (syād-vāda-sruta), that is, the knowledge derived from that part of the Jaina scripture which teaches us to comprehend things from all-sided standpoints. The naya-sruta (knowledge of the one-sided method) has been described in the previous verse. The syād-vāda (knowledge of the allsided method) is described below:
Syād-vāda, which literally signifies assertion of possibilities, seeks to ascertain the meaning of things from all possible standpoints. Things are neither existent nor non-existent absolutely. A thing may be said to exist in a certain way and to be non-existent in another way, and so forth. Syād-vāda examines things from seven points of view, hence the doctrine is also called sapta-bhangi-naya (seven-fold paralogism). It is stated as follows: 1) May be, it is (syādasti); 2) may be, it is, not (syād-nāsti); 3) may be, it is, and it is not (syād-asti-nasti); 4) may be, it is indescribable (syādavaktavyam); 5) may be, it is and yet indescribable (syād-asti ca avaktavyam ca); 6) may be, it is not, and also indescribable (syād nāsti ca avaktayyam ca); 7) may be, it is, and it is not, and also indescribable (syād asti ca nāsti ca avaktavyam ca).
When a thing is to be established, we say “it is”, when it is to be denied, we say “it is not”. When a thing is to be established and denied in turn, we say “it is and it is not”, When a thing is to be established and denied simultaneously, we say, “it is indescribable”. When a thing is to be established and yet described as indescribable, we say “it is, and yet indescribable”. When a thing is to be denied and also