Jeevatthan and Nay

By Mahendra Kumar Jain

The concern of the 12th Ang, (itthivay or drashtivad.) is why we say what we say.  Words communicate what is on ones mind, and their content requires validation.  For example, assertions I am, I will, I exist or It is so communicate more than just entities and events.  Words facilitate reasoning with tangible information to think and reason about actions and behaviors.  Evidence based validation of perception requires reasoning (Nay) with the information and the prior knowledge.

Gautam and Saudharm (ca 527 to 515 BCE) organized the works.  They were orally transmitted for about 600 years hundred years before their fragments were assembled in written form.  On this site we present original texts and their interpretive English translations of Jeevatthan (Jeevasthan), and half a dozen works on Nay (Jain Nyay) assembles between 50 to 700 CE.  Significance of these works is elaborated in stand alone Essays in Volumes I-III and the introductory sections of Chapters A-J of the Jeevatthan section, and in Volume I of the Nay section.

Jeevatthan (First Khand of Chakkhandagam or Shatkhandagam) is about the perception of self (subject) in dealing with the non-self (object). The meaning of perceptions emerges through explorations of the content and context.  Potential lies in the quality of interaction and the cognition based on tangible evidence.  Both the value and meaning of the experience, rather than the faith or ad hoc assumptions, guide towards the valid perception that is consistent with the underlying reality.  Concerns can be addressed through such experience.  

Human ability to use tools includes development of viable constructs for future use. Tools of reasoning (Nay) help in interpretation of the evidence relevant to the concern. Language facilitates search for meaning through observation, inquiry, interpretation and discovery with an analytical attitude.

Further progress in the understanding of such secular ways of reasoning and the structure of thought is likely to emerge from interpretations based on wider use of modern techniques (for example see IX. GNR's Higher Order Boolean Algebra for Syad Nay) rather than just literal scrutiny.  (Cont...)