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SARVODAYA TIRTHA
113
A well-known Hindi critic Mahavir Prasad Dvivedi writes:
“Even great scholars of Hinduism do not know even now what the syādvāda of the Jainas is "116
Pandit Swami Ramamishra, MM, head of the Satya Sampradaya, Professor, Sanskrit College, Varanasi, writes:
“How much do I say, even leading most Acaryas have refused the Jaina view in a way which cannot but make one laugh Syādvāda is the most invincible fortress of Jainism The powerful bombshells of the heretics and adversaries do not penetrate into it.
“The Jaina doctrines are of immense value for the acquisition of the knowledge of fundamentals and of spiritual methodology in ancient India. It is a key to all true views"
The great Sanskrit Scholar, Pandit Ganganath Jha writes:
“When I read the refutation of the Jaina doctrine by Sankaracarya, I was convinced that the Jaina doctrine contains many things which the great Vedantist could not comprehend From whatever I have known of Jainism so far, I am firmly convinced that if he had taken the trouble of reading the Jaina canonical texts, he would have found nothing in them worth refuting "118
It is necessary to understand the exact meaning of the word syāt. Because of ignorance some have taken it synonymous with doubt, some with possibility or probability There is no scope for anyone of these. It is a term which has positive implication. Read what Samantabhadra writes on this:
vākyeşvanekāntadyoti gamyam prati višeşaņain syānnipato'arthayogitvāt tavakevalināmapi119
116 Ibid.,p 92. 117 Ibid ,p 92 118 Ibid., p. 94. 119 Aptamimānsā, śloka, 103.