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Postulates of Anekanta 1. Whole truth exists but can neither be perceived nor be expressed fully.
2. As our perception, thought and expression are sequential in time and space, we can express and grasp only partial truths.
3. All descriptons of an object or situation are subject to the chosen reference. It is as it a person in England says that India is in east while another one in Tokyo says that India is in west. This fact gives rise to a piquant situation of 'either-or', popularly known as Syadwada in Jain parlance.
4. Sequential time and space are due to our limited speed of perception. Kewali, on the other hand has infinite speed of spiritual perception resulting in the capture of the whole truth of the entire existence in zero time.
A very important and powerful corollary of Anakanta principles is that it leaves vast space for various view points to be true. While one may be partially true, others too have equal, if not more, chance of being true. It is like two persons standing on different radii of same circle and traveling towards centre. Both are treading the entirely different paths but arrive at the same destination. This all encompassing thouhgt is the need of the hour in the present world scenario where one religion is up against another and one nation against the other.
Though Anekanta contained a universal principle, its popularity remained in oblivion. It was only after Einstein, the international community awarded the due credence to the Jains line of thought. In one such international recognition, a German Professor Hermann Jacoby has written that the principle of Anekanta has opened the floodgates of understanding the truth'.
Contribution of Siddhasen Divakar
The comprehensive study to understand the truth of existence' has taken place only on the Indian soil. Three main thought streams were developed - Vedanta presumed that matter was indestructible, Buddhism treated substance as unstable and Jainism believed in eternal universe in which the matter and energy could exist in infinite forms and shapes. As stated earlier, this concept was termed as Anekanta. According to the Digambar belief, the first reference to the Syadvad and Saptbhagi is available in the "Pravachan-Sar" and "Panchastikaya", written by Acharya Kundkund in the first century. Repeat reference are availabe in the "Atma-Mimansa" of Acharya Samantbhadra. A very comprehensive description of Syadvad is avail-1 able in "Nyayavtar" written by Acharya Siddhasen Divakar.
Historically, the subject of Anekanta had remained a bit controversial. People would argue that if everything said is a partial truth then what is the guarantee of 1 Anekanta being true? The answer is not simple, but not impossible too. To undestand 1 the essence of Aneknata, we need to elaborate this subject on three different planes-1
1. Theoretical 2. Philosophical 3. Logical or Scientific
