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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
indefiniteness of knowledge. This is however, far from being the truth. One reason of the misunderstanding seems to have been that they did not grasp the true significance of the term syāt or syād, and interpreted it to mean 'perhaps'. But, it is not so.
Jaina books have unequivocally stated, time and again, that the term syāt used by them in this context means 'in a way', ‘from one point of view, or 'viewed at from a particular angle or stand'. Instead of creating doubt or uncertainty, syādvāda helps a correct, precise and thorough comprehension of the reality. Based as it is on anekāntavāda and the related nayavāda, this theory manifests the realistic, rational and highly tolerant spirit of Jainism.
To help a better understanding of the twin idea of anekānta and syādvāda, we may give a few parables conventionally used by Jaina writers to illustrate the subject, as well as some examples from experience and modern thinkers.
The famous parable of the Six Blind Men has it that they happened to come across an elephant and each touching a different part of its body concluded as to what the animal was like. He who happened to touch the side of the elephant said it was like a wall, the one touching its foot said it was like a pillar, the third touched the trunk and said it was like the branch of a tree, the fourth touched the tail and believed the animal to be like a thick rope, he who touched the ear held it to be like a winnowing fan, and the one who happened to touch the tusk said it was like a spear. Each one of them was sure and adamant about his own surmise and called the others false.
They began to quarrel. A seeing man chanced to come there and listened to their individual views. He told them that their was no cause for quarrel, that everyone of them was correct but only partly, and that to have an exact idea as to what
