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69,
answer depends on one's theory of the nature of things. Those who hold that things of the universe have a purely positive nature, maintain that all expressions are positive i.e., affirmative in significance. Those on the contrary who hold that things have a purely negative nature, contend that all expressions must be negative in significance. The Jainas object to both these views and point out that all expressions have no less than seven significances. The Jaina theory is based on the Jaina doctrine of the nature of. things which may be stated as follows :-(1) In some respect a thing is. (2) In some respect a thing is not (3) Firstly, a thing is, then it is not. (4) Simultaneously, a thing is and is not. (5) A thing is and at the same time, it is and is not. (6) A thing is not and at the same time, it is and is not. (7) A thing firstly is, then it is not and then it is and is not simul taneously,
Curious as it might appear, the Jaina theory embodies a principle, the truth of which is unchallengeable. The Sophistic Charvaka philosophers attributed absolute reality to phenomena of ordinary experience. The Buddhists were equally dogmatic in asserting that all things were absolutely unsubstantial. The schools of Indian philosophy, which proceeded on a criticism of these extreme systems of thought and sought to indicate
