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A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
315
rjusūtranaya, because according to Buddhists, there is no existence of substance, only the modifications remain. Even in the state of salvation the continuance of consciousness extinguishes like a lamp. Thus it totally exhausts. And according to their view the substance of consciousness finally comes to an end.
ŠABDANAYA
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Śabdanaya has a reference to the word and its meaning. It analyses the meaning of the word in the context of time, gender, number, case and prefixes that are attached to the word. According to various contexts of time, gender, number, etc, the meaning of the word changes. The aim of this naya is to determine the exact meaning of the word.2 This naya is primarily concerned with the linguistic part of the expression of thought. According to this naya, the meaning of the word is determined by its function, the use in the various contexts with reference to the number, gender and the prefixes etc. When we say the mountain Meru was, is and will remain, it has a reference to the time element in the expression of the word. But the difference in each expression emphasises the difference in the contexts of time, the past, the present and future and accordingly in the object as well. It recognises the difference in the state of mountion Meru, of present, past and future time. We may determine the meaning of the word with reference to the modifications of the word. When we say that he prepares the pot and the pot a contains water; in these statements the meanings emphasise different contexts with reference to the
potter, and the function of the pot. Three genders of the word give different meanings. A word used in a masculine gender will have a different meaning from the same word used in feminine gender. The word taţah, taţi and taţaṁ have different meanings.
1 Pramāņaņayatattvāloka 7, 31. 2 (a) Laghiyastraya sloka 44.
(b) Nyāyakumudacandra, p. 794. (c) Tattvārthaslokavārtika p. 272, 273.
(d) Pramānanayatattvāloka 7, 32. 3 Pramāṇanayatattvāloka 7, 33.
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