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SYADVADA
153
pointing out that different standpoints can be taken, the stress in syadvāda is on the synthetic approach to Reality, on reiterating that the different view-points together help us in comprehending the Real. As analysis and synthesis are not unrelated to each other we find elements of synthesis even in a purely analytical approach and elements of analysis even in a synthetic view of Reality. In more concrete terms in nayavada there is the recognition that overemphasizing any one view would lead to a fallacy-implying that the different views have their value, that each one of them reflects Reality and therefore, that they together alone can give us a sweep into Reality. Similarly in syādvāda the synthetic character of the modes of predication is highlighted with a clear understanding that various propositions synthesised have, each one of them, something to convey about Reality itself.
We shall now consider the seven propositions in some detail. The seven modes of predication are:
1. May be, Reality is (Syat asti dravyam)
2. May be, Reality is not (Syāt nästi dravyam)
4.
3. May be, Reality is and is not (Syat asti ca nāsti ca dravyam) May be, Reality is indescribable (Syat avaktavyaṁ dravyam) 5. May be, Reality is and is indescribable (Syat asti ca avaktayyam dravyam) 6. May be, Reality is not and is indescribable (Syät nästi ca avaktavyam dravyam)
7. May be, Reality is, is not and is indescribable (Syat asti ca năsti ca avaktavyam dravyaṁ)
As any object in the world represents Reality (though in a limited way), we shall explain the seven propositions with reference to a particular object, we shall take the example of a pot (ghata) as the Jaina philosophers do. Before taking the propositions themselves for analysis it is important to remember that the terms is and is not stand respectively for the existence or otherwise of the object under consideration.
1. The proposition "May be Pot is" signifies obviously the existence of the pot. The prefixing of 'May be' to the proposition implies that this proposition is not absolutely true, i. e., in exclusion of the truth of all the other propositions. The proposition is valid from one point of view, that is from the point of view of the
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