Truthfullness and Truth in Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Peter Flugel
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

Page 20

मार्च २०१०
१८५
the thing is called Prajñāpani.°81 MĀLVANIYĀ (1971: 212) cites the example quoted by the commentator Malayagiri's Prajñāpanā-tikā, “Those who refrain from killing living beings live long and enjoy good health (in the next birth)',82 and notes: “The gāthā in point contains no command "do not kill” but simply describes the fact that those who do not kill live long and remain healthy. Such speech ‘has nothing to do with religious dos and do-nots' (MĀLVAŅIYĀ 1971: 211). Hence, it should be distinguished from implicit performative speech. But, of course, it may be interpreted as such by a listener who infers an 'ought from the 'is'. MONIERWILLIAMS' (1986: 659) Sanskrit - English Dictionary translates the causative prajñāpana as 'statement, assertion'. LALWANI (1985 IV: 133) apparently follows the Illustrated Ardhamāgadhi Dictionary of RATNACANDRA (1988 III: 443), based on Malayagiri, in using the word "advice' (upadeśa).83 What is probably meant by the term pannavaņi is that from the conventional point if view, which underlies the Jain "catuskoti of language usage, the testimony of an authoritative person is neither true nor untrue, because its meaning may be incomprehensible for a hearer, similarly to unintelligible utterances of non-enlightened creatures. With imperatives and addresses expressing universal truths or ideals has in common that no referent exists in re at a given place and point of time (as for instance in Malayagiri's example which should not be read as a prediction relating to a specific individual). The multidimensional implications of a general statement or rule such as this cannot be understood entirely in an instant, as WITTGENSTEIN (1953: 53–55, $ 138 40) noted in his remarks on the relation between meaning and use of a word (ib., pp. 190 ff., § 138 f.). Moreover, the example given by the commentaries concerning the necessary link between nonviolence and health cannot be proved or disproved from a conventional perspective. It must be accepted on the basis of the authority of the speaker. Interestingly enough, the two
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