________________
A SOURCE-BOOK IN JAINA PHILOSOPHY
539
attachment. It would foster spontaneous socialism in an age when we are trying to force upon people the socialistic pattern of society without the spiritual basis of non-attachment.
Anekānta is the intellectual expression of ahiṁsā. Anekānta forbids to be dogmatic and fanatic and agressively insist upon expressing our attitude. Anekānta says that reality is complex. It can be looked at from different points of view and each point of view gives a picture of reality which is at once true but partial. But to insist that the particular point of view and the picture of reality are the only true picture would be dogmatic, and i, e., ekānta. Jainas wanted to avoid the aggressively dogmatic outlook towards looking at things. They have adopted a synoptic point of view which gives the comprehensive picture of reality in which all other aspects of reality are woven into a synthetic hold.
The anekānta is an attitude of mind. It is the foundational principle. Nayavāda expresses the point of view. It is psychological while syadvāda is the logical expression of nayavada formulated in propositional forms. We have said that anekānta is the basic principle, nayadāda is analytic and syādvāda is synthetic. We have also considered the importance of syādvāda in the back-ground of the criticisms offered against it, by philosophers like Sankara, Rāmānuja and some of the modern philosophers. These philosophers as we are aware, have considered syödvāda as a formulation of doubt and uncertainty. First, because, syādvāda mentions seven-fold predications of affirmation, negation and inexpressibility. And secondly, because, the word syät indicates the attitude of doubt as it means 'perhaps', but we have seen that syāt does not mean “perhaps', it does not connote the expreșsion of 'doubt,' the statement made in every predication is a certain statement but predicated from a particular point of view. All the propositional forms present the pictures of reality from the different points of view and syādvāda presents the synthetic picture or more aptly a comprehensive picture of reality. Modern science is slowly leaning towards the appreciation of syādvāda as a methodology of multi-valued logic for the solution of problems wbich are metaphysicoscientific. Physicists have begun to realise that syādvāda as multi
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
