Jaina Philosophy

PramĀṆA, NAYA DURNAYA

Pramāṇa and Naya

 A Pramāṇa reveals the thing as a whole (Sakala-grāhi); a naya is aṃśa-grāhi.

 Pramāṇa results in knowledge while naya is only the viewpoint of the knower.
 The doctrine of Nayas is meant to remedy the problem of Ekāntavāda.
Basis of PramĀna
 अन्धगजन्याय
 अनन्तधर्म कं वस्तु : Reality is possessed of innumerable characters.
 सप्तभङ्गिनय :
 स्यादस्त्ये व सवं
 स्यान्नास्त्ये व सवं
 स्यादस्त्ये व स्यान्नास्त्ये व
 स्यादवक्तव्यर्े व
 स्यादस्त्ये व स्यादवक्तव्यर्े व
 स्यान्नास्त्ये व स्यादवक्तव्यर्े व
 स्यादस्त्ये व स्यान्नास्त्ये व स्यादवक्तव्यर्े वेङ्गि
सदे व सि् स्यात्सङ्गदङ्गि ङ्गिधार्थो र्ीयेि दु नीङ्गिनयरमार्ाः I
यर्थार्थमदर्शी िु नयरमार्ाःपर्थेन दु नीङ्गिपर्थं त्वर्ास्र्थ II २८II

Sadeva sat syātsaditi tridhārtho mĪyeta durnĪtinayaparmāṆaih,

yathārthadarŚĪ tu nayapramāṆpathena durnĪtipatham tvamāsthah.
Śloka XXVIII
 Padārtha is what is known. Padārthas are known through Naya, durnaya and pramāṇa
 Through naya only a part of reality is known. There are seven nayas, namely, naigama,
Samgraha, vyavahāra, ṛjusutra, śabda, samabhiruḍha and evambhuta
 ‘sat’ is in neuter gender as it is unutterable, eg ‘kim tasyā garbhe jātam?’
o Durnaya: ‘The jar is sat only’ (astyeva ghatah); considered mithyā
o naya: ‘The jar is sat’ (asti ghatah), e.g. Gajanimīlika or elephant’s eye closure
o pramāṇa: In some way, the jar is sat’ (syāt kathamcit ghatah): it is not vetoed by dṛṣṭa or iṣṭa; the
example given is of ‘sat’ dharma, but it applies to nitya, anitya, vaktavya, avaktavya, sāmānya,
viśeṣa
 For reaching prajñāpanā through anuyogadvāra we need naya (the process is through upakrama
or introduction, nikṣepa or propounding, anugama or following up, naya or seeing through
method)
NAYA
 Pramāṇapratipannārthaikadeśaparāmarśah: Apprehension of a part of the object, the whole
of which is revealed only by pramāṇa
 Without understanding it , it is difficult to understand Durnaya.
 It is partial or eka-deśa knowledge truth. There are infinite attributes in a thing in reality, and Naya
refers to that particular dharma that one wants to advert.
 Nayas are infinite
 The infinite Nayas are reduced to seven. The point of view (abhiprāya) of the speaker may have reference
either to Artha (Naigama, Samgraha, Vyavahāra, Ṛjusutra are Arthanayas) or to Śabda (Śabda,
Samabhiruḍha, Evambhuta are Śabdanayas).
 This reduction to seven is based on the principles of Vyāsa ((detailed treatment) and Samāsa (brief or
condensed treatment). According to Samāsa there are two divisions: Dravyārthic ( viz. Naigama, Samgraha
and Vyavahāra) and Paryāyārthic (viz. Ṛjusutra, Śabda, Samabhiruḍha, Evambhuta)
 Naigama(Common)
‘The soul has consciousness’

Samgraha (General)
Substantial ‘A thing exists’
(Being)

Practical (Vyavahara)
‘The pitcher flows.’

Naya
Rjusuta
‘Everything is in
flux’
Modificationa
l Verbal
(Becoming Śabda

Subtle
‘thus-happened
Samabhirudha
‘Evambhuta
Naigama Naya
 The Naigama viewpoint takes note of (1) Sattā- the highest Sāmānya which groups together dravyas,
guṇas and karmas in one class; (2) Avāntara Sāmānya such as dravyatva, guṇatva and karmatva etc. (3)
the ultimate Viśeṣa and (4) Avāntara Viśeṣa which are distinct from other objects and from Sāmānya
 Sāmānya and Viśeṣa are distinct from each other because they possess contradictory properties, e.g while
Sāmānya is ubiquitous, Viśeṣa is limited to particular places.
 Examples are Nilayana and Prastha; Nilayana: Where do you live? Reply: I live in the world; In world I live
in Jambudvipa… in Bharatavarṣa… in Madhyakhanda… in this city… in this residence and so on. Naigama-
naya knows these alternatives. Prastha is the measuring unit.
 Though Naigama viewpoint recognizes both Sāmānya as well as Viśeṣa it is not Anekāntavāda.
Samgraha Naya

 It is the view that ignores all Viśeṣas and takes note of Sāmānya only, e.g. ‘substance-ness’, ‘cow-ness’
 It comprehends the whole universe in a single concept, i.e. of Being or Existence, that covers everything.
Vyavahāra Naya

 The Vyavahāra view is the common sense view. It does not bother to ascertain truth on logical or
scientific basis.
 It admits neither Sāmānya nor Viśeṣa as both are contradicted by common experience and we need
neither of these for the conduct of our day to day business. Also, only present is real.
 If the category of Sāmānya existed, since it embraces the whole world, it would make all of us omniscient,
e. g. Nyāya’s sāmānya-lakṣaṇa. Similarly, we see particular ghata but not Viśeṣa.
 Because of this conventional usage, ‘the path goes’, ‘the mountain is on fire’, the pitcher flows’ all make
sense.
Ṛjusutra Naya

 It agrees with Vyavahāra view in accepting the reality of present only. Past and present, like hare’s horn,
do not exist.
 The indivisible atoms are the only reals. The so-called bodies are their combinations.
 All reality, according to this view, is ever-perishing.
 It refers to changing paryāyas only as distinguished from the abiding dravya.
Śabda

 According to the Śabda view a single object is denoted by a variety of synonymous terms, eg Indra,Śakra
and Purandar do not denote different objects, they all evoke one object.
 At the same time, it recognizes differences of objects arising from differences of gender, number, tense,
person etc., e.g. a mountain persists through three time stages like past, present and future. Through the
verbal method we may consider the subject of these three as distinct from one another, e.g. the past
mountain is, the present mountain is and the future mountain is. Similarly in case of taṭa, taṭi, taṭam.
Samabhiruḍha

 Samabhiruḍha view recognizes that there is actually distributed denotation even in the case of
synonymous terms, due to the etymology of different connotations. It is contrary to Śabda view.
 For example, Indra (the lord of Gods), Śakra ( the powerful or resourceful), Purandara (the destroyer of
the cities. Also words like ‘rājan’, ‘nṛpa, bhupa.
 While Śabda view takes denotative aspect, the Samabhiruḍha view takes the connotative aspect of
words.
Evambhuta (thus-happened)

 Evambhuta view recognizes that a word can be applied to an object only if it truly
characterizes the object. Thus the word ghaṭa can be applied to an object when it is actually
being used for carrying water, and not otherwise.
 Mere capacity for some function is not enough.
 If this is not accepted then the lump of clay (Before the ghaṭa is made and also when it has
ceased to exist) would be called ghaṭa . Similarly, the word ‘pācaka’
Durnaya

 These partial viewpoints or Nayas become positively false and therefore Durnaya when they
put forward a partial truth as the complete truth.
 Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika systems fall under Naigama-naya; Vedānta and Sāmkhya are cases of Samgraha-naya;
Cārvāka is an example of Vyavahāra-naya; the Buddhists follow Ṛjusutra-naya and the Grammarians
follow Śabda-naya.
 Naya becomes Durnaya when it becomes aggressive and ventures to deny other parts.
Pramāṇa: the whole truth embraces all nayas.

Pramāṇa

Aparokṣa
Parokṣa
(Immediate)
(Mediate)

• Avadhi
• Manah-paryāya
• Kevala-jñāna Pratyakṣa, Smṛti (Memory),
pratyabhijñā (Recognition),
Ihā(questioning state of
mind), Anumāna