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accumulated mass of knowledge in explaining a phenomenon; but it refers not to the whole of it but to a particular aspect of it. It may be said that Naya explains a thing more by looking to its various modes and particular aspects directly, than by referring it to a mass of authoritative knowledge with regard to it. Hence, we say that Naya is the extreme limit of the Sruta-jñāna. Indeed, UmāSvati instead of looking upon it as a mode of Sruta-jñāna chooses to consider it as a special form of knowing things. He thus differentiates it not only from Śruta-jñāna but from the entire category of the Pramāņa, as will be apparent from his aphorism,
Soul
"Valid knowledge is acquired through the Pramāņa's and the Naya's".
¤¶¶¶: 1 Tattvärtha-sütra, Ch. 1,6
The Naya is primarily divided into two modes viz:-the Dravyarthika i.e. that having substanace for its object and the Paryāyārthika i.e. that having Mode for its object. The former again is subdivided into three classes and the latter, into four, so that ultimately, we have seven kinds of the Naya. These are,
"The Naigama or the Transferred; the Samgraha or the General; the Vyavahāra or the Specific; the Rju-sūtra or the Straight; the Sabda or the Verbal; the Samabhiruḍha or the Actual; and the Evambhūta or the Such-like; are the Nayas or Ways of expressions or explanation”. -Ibid. 33
The Naya is the way of explaining a thing from a particular standpoint. A thing or a phenomena has admittedly various modes or aspects. To approach the consideration of it from any of these modes or aspects is the business of the Naya. The seven classes of the Naya indicate seven different standpoints from which a thing can be considered. It is better,— -as our description would show, to look upon these seven modes of the Naya as seven progressive ways of having a more and more limited conception of a thing or phenomenon under consideration.
(1) The Naigama: According to Vadi-deva, Siddha-sena
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