Jainism: Anekantavada, Syadvada and the Theory of Karma
Anekāntavāda and syādvāda
Jainism holds that reality is manifold (anekānta): every object has many aspects. Nayavāda analyses one aspect from a standpoint; syādvāda expresses completeness with 'syāt' ('in some respect'). The saptabhaṅgī has seven predications: syād asti, syād nāsti, syād asti-nāsti, syād avaktavya, and the three combinations with avaktavya. This is not 'everything is true'; it is disciplined, perspective-qualified assertion.
Karma
Karma is subtle matter (karma-pudgala) that binds jīva. Bondage (bandha) arises from passions and activity; samvara stops influx, nirjarā sheds old karma, and mokṣa follows when all karma is removed. Ahimsa is central because violence injures life and binds karma. Kevala-jñāna is omniscient knowledge.
Worked example
A clay pot: as clay it exists; as a jar in a lump of clay it does not yet exist; as a changing object it cannot be captured in one timeless assertion. Syādvāda says 'syād asti' from the standpoint of material, 'syād nāsti' from the standpoint of finished form. The reasoning shows why dogmatic 'only this' claims fail, not that contradiction is acceptable.
Traps
Do not translate syādvāda as scepticism or 'all views equal'. Anekānta does not deny truth; it denies one-sided absoluteness. Jain karma is material, not merely psychological. Ahimsa is not passivity. Do not confuse kevala-jñāna with ordinary inference.