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ON THE CONCEPT OF TRUTH IN JAINISM Dr. B.K. Khadabadi
It is difficult to define poetry in a sentence or two; but we can describe its nature for duly understanding what poetry is. Similarly it is equally difficult to define truth; but its nature can be described and understood. In the context of the Householder's Ethical Discipline i.e., acaradharma, the Jainācāryas have given it still a considerably wide connotation, which Prof. R. Williams calls the Jaina interpretation of truth.
Authorities on the Householder's Code of Conduct-Śrāvakācāra present several aspects of the nature of truth as follows:
Umāsvāmi states that speaking what is not commendable is falsehood; and Pujyapāda, the reputed Commentator, explains that what causes pain or suffering to a living being is not commendable, whether it refers to the contextual fact or not. Thus the spoken words that inflict any kind of injury to living beings is falsehood. Almost bringing out the same purport and elucidating the scope to some extent, Svāmī Sama ntabhadra states: Abstaining oneself from speaking and from making others to speak gross falsehood, and also from truth that causes injury to others, is called by sages. Satyāņuvrata-the Minor Vow of Truth. Vasunandi says: One should not utter untruth out of attachment-rāga or hatred-dveșa, and even truth if it causes destruction of a living being. Svami Kartikeya presents the very Jaina view of lay life and culture in this regard : The Satyaṇuvrata- the Minor Vow of Truth is abstinence from harmful, rough, cruel or secret-divulging speech and the use of harmless and balanced words that give satisfaction to living beings and also words that express sacred truth. The Savaya-paṇṇattī however, records the positive aspect of truthfulness: One's speech should be based on the pursuit of the good for both the worlds and also on the avoidance of what is harmful to oneself, to others and to both together. But Amṛtacandrasūri's treatment of the Minor Vow of Truth is quite worth noting, though he has adopted a negative approach to truth":
Any statement made through Pramattayoga-careless activity of body, mind or speech is falsehood. It is of four kinds :
(i) Denying the existence of a thing with reference to its posi
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