 The origins of anekāntavāda lie in the teachings of Mahāvīra , who used it effectively to show the relativity of truth and reality . Taking a relativistic viewpoint , Mahāvīra is said to have explained the nature of the soul as both permanent , from the point of view of underlying substance , and temporary , from the point of view of its modes and modification . The importance and antiquity of anekāntavāda are also demonstrated by the fact that it formed the subject matter of Astinasti Pravāda , the fourth part of the lost Purva that contained teachings of the Tīrthaṇkaras prior to Mahāvīra . German Indologist Hermann Jacobi believes Mahāvīra effectively employed the dialectics of anekāntavāda to refute the agnosticism of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta . Sutrakritanga , the second oldest canon of Jainism , contains the first references to syādvāda and saptibhaṅgī . According to Sūtrakritanga , Mahāvīra advised his disciples to use syādvāda to preach his teachings : 
