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Giving a peep into the nature of peace and prosperity that existed in Ayodhya, this verse explains how opposites were in perfect balance. Does that mean that opposites define existence? For charity to exist, non-charity too has to be defined. In simpler words, unless there is darkness how can one define light? Unless there are lies how can one make out the truth, Unless there is foolishness, how to recognize wisdom?
Yet another connected thought flits across the mind. The Natyasastra, the treatise on dramatics enumerates emotions. Emotions of anger, love, hatred, disgust and so on. There are totally eight of them. The ninth one is Santham or peace. Santham is believed to be a later addition to the eight rasas, raising the total count of rasas to nine thereby. Why? Why was that so? Was peace not denied till then? Or did it not need a definition since there existed no opposite to it then?
A beautiful saying of Lao Tzu runs thus: "When all the world. understands beauty to be beautiful, then ugliness exists; when all understand goodness to be good, the evil exists." In other words then beauty is relative, relative to ugliness. Goodness is relative to evil. Says Acharya Mahaprajna that the logic of Jain philosophers is: that which is true contains its opposite: yat sat tat sa pratipaksam.
Once again I find an example in Taoism from China. Lao Tzu
writes:
In order to weaken, one will surely strengthen first. In order to overthrow, one will surely exalt first in order to take one will surely give first
This is called subtle wisdom.
And yet he says when you want to retain something, admit in it something of the opposite:
Be bent and you will remain straight Be vacant and you will remain full Be worn and you will remain new.
II
This is actually a beautiful demonstration of the idea of reconciliation embedded in the idea of Anekanta. By accepting the opposites, and thus searching for harmony from within them, we discover the network of inter relatedness that forms the basis of all existence. Harmony is a principle of the search for unity without negating the preexistent diversity.
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