Parshvanatha
Parshvanatha known as Parshva and Paras, was the 23rd of 24 tirthankaras of Jainism. He is the earliest tirthankara, acknowledged as a historical figure. Parshvanatha's biography is uncertain, with Jain sources placing him between the 9th and 8th centuries BC and historians saying that he lived in the 8th or 7th century BC. Parshvanatha was born 350 years before Mahavira. With Mahavira and Neminatha, Parshvanatha is one of the four tirthankaras most worshiped by Jains, he is popularly seen as a ford-maker, who can save. Parshvanatha died on Mount Sammeta in an important Jain pilgrimage site, his iconography is notable for the serpent hood over his head, his worship includes Dharanendra and Padmavati. According to Jain texts, Parshvanatha was born in India. Renouncing worldly life, he founded an ascetic community. Texts of the two major Jain sects differ on the teachings of Parshvanatha and Mahavira, this is a foundation of the dispute between the two sects; the Digambaras believe that there was no difference between the teachings of Parshvanatha and Mahavira.
According to the Śvētāmbaras, Mahavira expanded Parshvanatha's first four restraints with his ideas on ahimsa and added the fifth monastic vow. Parshvanatha did not require celibacy, allowed monks to wear simple outer garments. Digambaras disagree with Śvētāmbara interpretations. Śvētāmbara texts, such as section 2.15 of the Acharanga Sutra, say that Mahavira's parents were followers of Parshvanatha. Parshvanatha is the earliest Jain tirthankara, acknowledged as a historical figure. According to Paul Dundas, Jain texts such as section 31 of Isibhasiyam provide circumstantial evidence that he lived in ancient India. Historians such as Hermann Jacobi have accepted him as a historical figure because his Chaturyama Dharma is mentioned in Buddhist texts. Despite the accepted historicity, some historical claims have led to different scholarly conclusions, he is claimed in Jain texts to have been 13.5 feet tall. Parshvanatha's biography is legendary, with Jain texts saying that he preceded Mahavira by about 250 years and that he lived 78 years.
Mahavira is dated to c. 599 – c. 527 BC in the Jain tradition, Parshvanatha is dated to c. 850 – c. 772 BC. According to Dundas, historians outside the Jain tradition date Mahavira as contemporaneous with the Buddha in the 5th century BC and, based on the 250-year gap, date Parshvanatha to the 8th or 7th century BC. Doubts about Parshvanatha's historicity are supported by the oldest Jain texts, which present Mahavira with sporadic mentions of ancient ascetics and teachers without specific names; the earliest layer of Jain literature on cosmology and universal history pivots around two jinas: the Adinatha and Mahavira. Stories of Parshvanatha and Neminatha appear in Jain texts, with the Kalpa Sūtra the first known text. However, these texts present the tirthankaras with non-human physical dimensions, their bodies are celestial, like deva. The Kalpa Sūtra is the most ancient known Jain text with the 24 tirthankaras, but it lists 20. Early archaeological finds, such as the statues and reliefs near Mathura, lack iconography such as lions or serpents.
Parshvanatha was the 23rd of 24 tirthankaras in Jain tradition. He was born on the tenth day of the dark half of the Hindu month of Pausha to King Ashwasena and Queen Vamadevi of Benares. Parshvanatha belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Before his birth, Jain texts state that he ruled as the god Indra in the 13th heaven of Jain cosmology. While Parshvanatha was in his mother's womb, gods performed the garbha-kalyana, his mother dreamt fourteen auspicious dreams, an indicator in Jain tradition that a tirthankara was about to be born. According to the Jain texts, the thrones of the Indras shook when he was born and the Indras came down to earth to celebrate his janma-kalyanaka. Parshvanatha was born with blue-black skin. A strong, handsome boy, he played with the gods of water and trees. At age eight, Parshvanatha began practicing the twelve basic duties of the adult Jain householder, he lived as a soldier in Benaras. According to the Digambara school, Parshvanatha never married. Heinrich Zimmer translated a Jain text that sixteen-year-old Parshvanatha refused to marry when his father told him to do so.
At age 30, on the 11th day of the moon's waxing in the month of Pausha, Parshvanatha renounced the world to become a monk. He removed his clothes and hair, began fasting strictly. Parshvanatha meditated for 84 days before he attained omniscience under a dhaataki tree near Benares, his meditation period included strict vows. Parshvanatha's practices included careful movement, measured speech, guarded desires, mental restraint and physical activity, essential in Jain tradition to renounce the eg
History of Jainism
History of Jainism is the history of a religion founded in Ancient India. Jains trace their history through twenty-four tirthankara and revere Rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara; some artifacts found in the Indus Valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient Jain culture, but this is speculative and a subjective interpretation. This theory has not been accepted by most scholars because little is known about the Indus Valley iconography and script; the last two tirthankara, the 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha and the 24th tirthankara Mahavira are considered historical figures. Mahavira was the elder contemporary of the Buddha. According to Jain texts, the 22nd Tirthankara Arshth-nemi lived about 85,000 years ago and was the cousin of Hindu god Krishna. Jains consider their religion eternal; the two main sects of Jainism, the Digambara and the Śvētāmbara sect started forming about the 3rd century BCE and the schism was complete by about 5th century CE. These sects subdivided into several sub-sects such as Sthānakavāsī and Terapanthis.
Jainism co-existed with Hinduism in ancient and medieval India. Many of its historic temples were built near the Buddhist and Hindu temples in 1st millennium CE. After the 12th-century, the temples and naked ascetic tradition of Jainism suffered persecution during the Muslim rule, with the exception of Akbar whose religious tolerance and support for Jainism led to a temporary ban on animal killing during the Jain religious festival of Paryusan; the origins of Jainism are obscure. The Jains claim their religion is eternal, consider Rishabhanatha the founder in the present time-cycle, someone who lived for 8,400,000 purva years. Rishabhanatha is the first tirthankar among the 24 Tirthankaras who are considered mythical figures by historians. Different scholars have had different views on the origin; some artifacts found in the Indus Valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient Jain culture, but this is speculative. According to a 1925 proposal of Glasenapp, Jainism's origin can be traced to the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha, he considers the first twenty-two tirthankaras as legendary mythical figures.
According to another proposal by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first vice president of India, Jainism was in existence long before the Vedas were composed. Jain texts and tradition believes in 24 Tirthankaras. Historians only consider the last two based on historical figures of the 1st millennium BCE. Buddhist sources don't mention Mahavira as a founder of new the tradition, but as part of an ascetic Nirgranthas tradition; this has led scholars to conclude that Mahavira was not the founder, but a reformer of a tradition established by his predecessor, Parsvanatha. During the 6th century BCE, Mahāvīra became one of the most influential teachers of Jainism. Jains revere him as the last tirthankara of present cosmic age. Though, Mahavira is sometimes mistakenly regarded as the founder, he appears in the tradition as one who, from the beginning, had followed a religion established long ago. There is reasonable historical evidence that the 23rd Tirthankara, the predecessor of Mahavira, lived somewhere in the 9th–7th century BCE.
Neminatha was the predecessor of Parshvanatha, 84,000 years ago, 22nd Tirthankara of the Jain tradition. The texts of Jainism call the Hindu god Krishna a cousin of Neminatha, say that Neminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he gave to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. According to Jeffery D. Long, a professor of Religion known for his publications on Jainism, this connection between Krishna and Neminatha has been a historic reason for Jains to accept and cite the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna related festivals and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins; the Vedas mention the name Rishabha. However, the context in the Rigveda and the Upanishads suggests that it means the bull, sometimes "any male animal" or "most excellent of any kind", or "a kind of medicinal plant". Elsewhere it is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva. Hindu mythical texts such as the Bhagavata Purana include Rishabha Jina as an avatar of Vishnu. After the nirvana of Parshvanatha, his disciple Subhadatta became the head of the monks.
Subhadatta was succeeded by Haridatta, Aryasamudra and lastly Kesi. Uttaradhyayana, a Svetambara text have records of a dialogue between Kesi; the Tirthankaras are believed in the Jain tradition to have attained omniscience, known as kevala jnana. After Mahavira, one of his disciples Sudharma Svami is said to have taken over the leadership, he was the head of Jain community till 515 BCE. After his death, Jambuswami, a disciple of Sudharma Svami became the head of the monks, he was the head till 463 BCE. Sudharma Svami and Jambu Svami are traditionally said to have attained keval jnana, it is said. After Sudharma svami, there followed five sutrakevalis, i.e. those who were well versed in the scriptures, who headed the monks of the Jain community. Bhadrabahu was the last sutrakevali. After Bhadrabahu, there were seven leaders. Knowledge of the scriptures was progressively being lost with each in turn. During Chandragupta Maurya's reign, Acharya Bhadrabahu moved to Karnataka to survive a twelve-year-long famine.
Sthulabhadra, a pupil of Acharya Bhadrabahu, stayed in Magadha. When followers of Acharya Bhadrabahu returned, there was a dispute between them regarding the authenticity of the Angas; those who stayed at magadha started wea
Tattvartha Sutra
Tattvartha Sutra is an ancient Jain text written by Acharya Umaswati, sometime between the 2nd- and 5th-century AD. It is the one of the Jain scripture written in the Sanskrit language. Tattvartha Sutra is known in Jainism as the Moksha-shastra; the Tattvartha Sutra is regarded as one of the earliest, most authoritative text in Jainism, the only text authoritative in both the Digambara and Śvētāmbara sects. Its importance in Jainism is comparable with that of the Brahma Sutras and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in Hinduism, it is a text in sutra or aphorisms, presents the complete Jainism philosophy in 350 sutras over 10 chapters. The term Tattvartha is composed of the Sanskrit words tattva which means "reality, truth" and artha which means "nature, meaning", together meaning "nature of reality". One of its sutras, Parasparopagraho Jivanam is the motto of Jainism, its meaning is interpreted as " of souls is to help one another", or "Souls render service to one another". Tattvartha Sutra is known in Jainism as the Moksha-shastra.
The text written in Sanskrit, begins with an invocation:I bow to the Lord, the promulgator of the path to liberation, the destroyer of mountains of karmas and the knower of the whole of reality, so that I may realize these qualities. The first verse of Tattvārthsūtra, "सम्यग्दर्शनज्ञानचारित्राणि मोक्षमार्ग:" summarizes the Jaina path to liberation, it means that the Ratnatraya collectively constitutes the path to moksha. Its ten chapters are: Faith and Knowledge The Category of the Living The Lower World and the Middle World The Celestial Beings The Category of the Non-Living Influx of Karma The Five Vows Bondage of Karma Stoppage and Shedding of Karma Liberation The first chapter deals with the process of cognition and details about different types of knowledge; the next three chapters deal with the Jīva, lower worlds and celestial abodes, devas. The fifth chapter discusses the Non-soul; the next three chapters deal with the karmas and their manifestations and the influx, asrava and bad karma, shubha-ashubha karma and the bondage of the karmas.
The ninth chapter describes the blocking and shedding of the karmas, nirjara. The final chapter discusses the liberation of the soul; the theology in Tattvartha Sutra presents seven categories of truth in sutra 1.4: Souls exist Non-sentient matter exists Karmic particles exist that inflow to each soul Karmic particles bind to the soul Karmic particles inflow can be stopped Karmic particles can fall away from soul Complete release of karmic particles leads to liberation from worldly bondage Umaswami categorizes the types of knowledge to be empirical, attained through one's sense of perception. He adds that knowledge is acquired through literature and omniscience. In chapter 2, Umaswati presents sutras on soul, he asserts that soul is distinguished by suppression of deluding karma, or elimination of eight types of karmas, or partial presence of destructive karmas, or arising of eight types of new karmas, or those that are innate to the soul, or a combination of these. In chapter 3 through 6, Umaswati presents sutras for his first three categories of truth.
In chapter 7, Umaswati presents the Jaina vows and explains their value in stopping karmic particle inflow to the soul. The vows, with their respective translations by Nathmal Tatia, are ahimsa anirta asteya brahmacharya, aparigraha. Umaswati, in chapter 8 of Tattvartha Sutra presents his sutras on, he asserts that accumulated karma in life determines the length of life and realm of rebirth for each soul in each of four states – infernal beings and animals, human beings and as gods. Further, states Umaswati, karma affects the body, the shape, the characteristics as well as the status of the soul within the same species, such as Ucchi or Nicchi status; the accumulated and new karma are material particles, states Umaswati, which stick to the soul and these travel with the soul from one life to the next as bondage, where each ripens. Once ripened, the karmic particles fall off, states Umaswati; the chapter 9 of Tattvartha Sutra states how karmic particles can be stopped from attaching to the soul and how these can be shed.
Umaswati asserts that gupti, contemplation, endurance in hardship, with good character towards others, a soul stops karmic accumulations. External austerities such as fasting, reduced diet and isolated habitation, along with internal austerities such as expiation, service and meditation, according to Umaswati, along with respectful service to teachers and ailing ascetics help shed karma; the state of liberation is presented in Chapter 10 by Umaswati. It is achieved when obstructive karmas have been destroyed; this leads to the state of quietism and potentiality, the soul moves to the end of the universe, states Umaswati. The Tattvartha Sutra is regarded as one of the earliest, most authoritative book on Jainism, the only text authoritative in both the Digambara a
British Raj
The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India; the region under British control was called British India or India in contemporaneous usage, included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, those ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British tutelage or paramountcy, called the princely states. The whole was informally called the Indian Empire; as India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, 1936, a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria, it lasted until 1947, when it was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was a part of British India. The British Raj extended over all present-day India and Bangladesh, except for small holdings by other European nations such as Goa and Pondicherry; this area is diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, the Thar Desert. In addition, at various times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland, Singapore. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948; the Trucial States of the Persian Gulf and the states under the Persian Gulf Residency were theoretically princely states as well as presidencies and provinces of British India until 1947 and used the rupee as their unit of currency. Among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798.
The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a princely state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861; the Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, but not part of British India. India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory: British India and the Native States. In its Interpretation Act 1889, the British Parliament adopted the following definitions in Section 18: The expression "British India" shall mean all territories and places within Her Majesty's dominions which are for the time being governed by Her Majesty through the Governor-General of India or through any governor or other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India; the expression "India" shall mean British India together with any territories of any native prince or chief under the suzerainty of Her Majesty exercised through the Governor-General of India, or through any governor or other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India.
In general, the term "British India" had been used to refer to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has been used to refer to the "British in India"; the terms "Indian Empire" and "Empire of India" were not used in legislation. The monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was used in Queen Victoria's Queen's Speeches and Prorogation Speeches; the passports issued by the British Indian government had the words "Indian Empire" on the cover and "Empire of India" on the inside. In addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. Suzerainty over 175 princely states, some of the largest and most important, was exercised by the central government of British India under the Viceroy. A clear distinction between "dominion" and "suzerainty" was supplied by the jurisdiction of the courts of law: the law of British India rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament and the legislative powers those laws vested in the various governments of British India, both central and local.
At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. During the partition of Bengal, the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, the new provinces in the east becam
Dharmasthala Temple
Dharmasthala Temple is an 800-year-old religious institution in the temple town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada, India. The deities of the temple are Shiva, referred to as Mañjunatha, the tirthankara Chandraprabha and the protective gods of Jainism, Kalarkayi and Kanyakumari; the temple is considered unique. The priests are Shivalli Brahmins, who are Vaishnava, the administration is run by a Jain Bunt family called the Pergades. 800 years ago, Dharmasthala was known as Kuduma in Mallarmadi a village in Belthangady. Here lived the Jain Bunt chieftain Birmanna Pergade and his wife Ammu Ballalthi in a house called Nelliadi Beedu. According to the legend, the guardian angels of Dharma assumed human forms and arrived at Pergade's abode in search of a place where Dharma was being practised and could be continued and propagated; as was their habit, the couple hosted these illustrious visitors with all their wherewithal and great respect. Pleased by their sincerity and generosity, that night the Dharma Daivas appeared in the dreams of Pergade.
They explained the purpose of their visit to him and instructed him to vacate his house for the worship of the Daivas and dedicate his life to the propagation of Dharma. Asking no questions, the Pergade built himself another house and began worshiping the Daivas at Nelliadi Beedu; this worship of daivas continues. The Dharma Daivas again appeared before Pergade to build separate shrines to consecrate the four Daivas — Kalarahu, Kalarkayi and Kanyakumari. Pergade was instructed to choose two persons of noble birth to act as the Daivas' oracles and four worthy persons to assist Pergade in his duties as the executive head of the shrines. In return, the Daivas promised Pergade protection for his family, abundance of charity and renowned for the'Kshetra'. Pergade, as desired, invited Brahmin priests to perform the rituals; these priests requested Pergade to install a Shivalinga beside the native Daivas. The Daivas sent their vassal Annappa Swamy to procure the linga of Shiva from Kadri Manjunath Temple, near Mangalore.
Subsequently, the Manjunatha temple was built around the linga. The Pergade family is a Jain Bunt family. Birmanna Pergade and his wife are the hereditary trustees of the temple; the eldest male member uses the title Heggade. The Heggade solved civil or criminal disputes; this was a judicial function and continues to this day: The Heggade sits in judgement on hundreds of civil complaints, known as hoyulu, each day. About nearly twenty generations of the Pergade family have assumed the position of Dharma Adhikari; the present Dharma Adhikari is Veerendra Heggade. The list of previous Dharma Adhikari is as follows: Official website of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple
Samantabhadra (Jain monk)
Samantabhadra was a Digambara acharya who lived about the part of the second century CE He was a proponent of the Jaina doctrine of Anekantavada. The Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is the most popular work of Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra lived before Pujyapada. Samantabhadra is said to have lived from 150 CE to 250 CE, he was from southern India during the time of Chola dynasty. He was a poet, eulogist and an accomplished linguist, he is credited with spreading Jainism in southern India. Samantabhadra, in his early stage of asceticism, was attacked with a disease known as bhasmaka. As, digambara monks don't eat more than once in a day, he endured great pain, he sought the permission of his preceptor to undertake the vow of Sallekhana. The preceptor asked him to leave monasticism and get the disease cured. After getting cured he became a great Jain Acharya. Samantabhadra affirmed Kundakunda's theory of the two nayas - niścayanaya, he argued however that the mundane view is not false, but is only a relative form of knowledge mediated by language and concepts, while the ultimate view is an immediate form of direct knowledge.
Samantabhadra developed further the Jain theory of syādvāda. Jain texts authored by Acharya Samantabhadra are: Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra - The Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra discusses the conduct of a Śrāvaka in detail. Gandhahastimahabhasya, a monumental commentary on the Tattvartha Sutra; the Gandhahaslimahahhasya, with the exception of its Manglacharana, is extant now. The Manglacharana is known as the'Devagama stotra' or Āpta-mīmāṁsā. Āpta-mīmāṁsā- A treatise of 114 verses, it discusses the Jaina concept of omniscience and the attributes of the Omniscient. Svayambhustotra- An adoration of The Twenty-four Tirthankaras - 143 verses Yuktyanusasana- Sixty-four verses in praise of Tirthankara Vardhamāna Mahāvīra Jinasatakam - Poetical work written in Sanskrit in praise of twenty-four Jinas. Tattvanusasana Vijayadhavala tika Jinasena, in his celebrated work, Ādi purāṇa praises the Samantabhadra as Ghoshal, Saratchandra, Āpta-mīmāṁsā of Āchārya Samantabhadra, ISBN 9788126307241 Jain, Vijay K. Acarya Samantabhadra's Svayambhustotra: Adoration of The Twenty-four Tirthankara, Vikalp Printers, ISBN 978-81-903639-7-6, This article incorporates text from this source, in the public domain.
Jain, Samantabhadrabhāratī, Budhānā, Muzaffarnagar: Achārya Shāntisāgar Chani Smriti Granthmala, ISBN 978-81-90468879 Jain, Champat Rai, The Ratna Karanda Sravakachara, The Central Jaina Publishing House, This article incorporates text from this source, in the public domain. Long, Jeffery D. Jainism: An Introduction, I. B. Tauris, ISBN 978-1-84511-625-5 Shah, Jainism: The World of Conquerors, I, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1938-1
Anekantavada
Anekāntavāda refers to the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that reality is complex and has multiple aspects. Anekantavada has been interpreted to mean non-absolutism, "intellectual Ahimsa", religious pluralism, as well as a rejection of fanaticism that leads to terror attacks and mass violence; some scholars state that modern revisionism has attempted to reinterpret anekantavada with religious tolerance and pluralism. According to Jainism, no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth; this knowledge, is comprehended only by the Arihants. Other beings and their statements about absolute truth are incomplete, at best a partial truth. All knowledge claims, according to the anekāntavāda doctrine must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied. Anekāntavāda is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism; the origins of anekāntavāda can be traced back to the teachings of Mahāvīra, the 24th Jain Tīrthankara.
The dialectical concepts of syādvāda "conditioned viewpoints" and nayavāda "partial viewpoints" arose from anekāntavāda in the medieval era, providing Jainism with more detailed logical structure and expression. The details of the doctrine emerged in Jainism in the 1st millennium CE, from debates between scholars of Jain and Hindu schools of philosophies; the word anekāntavāda is a compound of two Sanskrit words: vāda. The word anekānta itself is composed of three root words, "an", "eka" and "anta", together it connotes "not one ended, sided", "many-sidedness", or "manifoldness"; the word vāda means "doctrine, speak, thesis". The term anekāntavāda is translated by scholars as the doctrine of "many-sidedness", "non-onesidedness", or "many pointedness"; the term anekāntavāda is not found in early texts considered canonical by Svetambara tradition of Jainism. However, traces of the doctrines are found in comments of Mahavira in these Svetambara texts, where he states that the finite and infinite depends on one's perspective.
The word anekantavada was coined by Acharya Siddhasen Divakar to significant the teaching of Mahavira that truth can be expressed in infinite ways. The earliest comprehensive teachings of anekāntavāda doctrine is found in the Tattvarthasutra by Acharya Umaswami, is considered to be authoritative by all Jain sects. In the Digambara tradition texts. The'two-truths theory' of Kundakunda provides the core of this doctrine; the Jain doctrine of anekāntavāda known as anekāntatva, states that truth and reality is complex and always has multiple aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is not possible to express it with language. Human attempts to communicate is naya, or "partial expression of the truth". Language is not Truth. From truth, according to Māhavira, language not the other way around. One can experience the truth of a taste, but cannot express that taste through language. Any attempts to express the experience is syāt, or valid "in some respect" but it still remains a "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete".
In the same way, spiritual truths are complex, they have multiple aspects, language cannot express their plurality, yet through effort and appropriate karma they can be experienced. The anekāntavāda premises of the Jains is ancient, as evidenced by its mention in Buddhist texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta; the Jain āgamas suggest that Māhavira's approach to answering all metaphysical philosophical questions was a "qualified yes". These texts identify anekāntavāda doctrine to be one of the key differences between the teachings of the Māhavira and those of the Buddha; the Buddha taught the Middle Way, rejecting extremes of the answer "it is" or "it is not" to metaphysical questions. The Māhavira, in contrast, taught his followers to accept both "it is" and "it is not", with "perhaps" qualification and with reconciliation to understand the absolute reality. Syādvāda and Nayavāda of Jainism expand on the concept of anekāntavāda. Syādvāda recommends the expression of anekānta by prefixing the epithet syād to every phrase or expression describing the nature of existence.
The Jain doctrine of anekāntavāda, according to Bimal Matilal, states that "no philosophic or metaphysical proposition can be true if it is asserted without any condition or limitation". For a metaphysical proposition to be true, according to Jainism, it must include one or more conditions or limitations. Syādvāda is the theory of conditioned predication, the first part of, derived from the Sanskrit word syāt, the third person singular of the optative tense of the Sanskrit verb as,'to be', which becomes syād when followed by a vowel or a voiced consonant, in accordance with sandhi; the optative tense in Sanskrit has the same meaning as the present tense of the subjunctive mood in most Indo-European languages, including Hindi, Russian, etc. It is used; the subjunctive is commonly used in Hindi, for example, in'kya kahun?','what to say?'. The subjunctive is commonly used in conditional constructions. Syat can be translated into English as meaning "perchance, may be, perhaps"; the use of the verb'as' in
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