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scholars have taken this as gradual development of the doctrine of Saptabhangi. According to them originally, the theory of Syādvāda was formulated not in its full form and it was later developed in its sevenfold predications. But we should recognise that the Jaina darśana was first presented by Tirthankaras. The Ganadharas formulated and taught the same to their desciples. Later it was expressed in the form of written documents. This gradual presentation of the doctrine in an elaborate form from the Tīrthankara to the Ganadharas and their
t mean that the doctrine was not fully formulated at the time of the Tīrthankaras. Tirthankara is an all-knowing Sarvadarśī. It is not possible to say that he did not know the Syādvāda doctrine in all its aspects. It would be apt to say that the doctrine of Saptabhangi was only elucidated by the Ganadharas and the later philosophers and not that they developed the theory in an elaborate form.
The first Tirthankara of this era is Rsabhadeva. His teachings were presented to people by the twenty three other Tirthankaras from time to time. These teachings were elaborated and crystalised in book forms by the disciples and philosophers of the later times. In the act of elaboration and presentation, certain factors like the capabality of the Ācāryas who had elaborated and intellectual climate of the time when it was presented in a.fuller and detailed form have to be considered. It is possible that the personal factors and the intellectual achievements of the later philosophers have influenced the presentation of the doctrines. Therefore, we find that in the later presentations in the book-form the scholars have used the two-fold objects of first presenting the other systems of philosophy as a polemic for refutation and later presented their own doctrine in a positive and constructive form. This type of presentation has developed in dialectical forms too.
But these factors have been ignored by scholars like Archie J. Bahm and they have misunderstood the elaborate presentation of the doctrines as the later developments. It has been suggested by scholars like him, that the Saptabhangi doctrine is the development from the Buddhist conception of Catuskoți niședha. This is far from the truth. If we look at this problem from the historical perspective we can very well say that Saptabhangi could not have arisen and developed out of
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