Tattvartha Sutra

SR No.: 006796
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sukhlal Sanghavi, K K Dixit
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2000
Total Pages: 596
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Tattvartha Sutra, & Tattvarth
File Size: 10 MB

Page 64

INTRODUCTION
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supposed to be Digambarite. The texts like Daśavaikālika etc. are so much well established within the fold of the Svetāmbara sect that their rejection on the part of the Digambara sect came about automatically. Perhaps, had the texts like Mūlācāra etc. too been fully owned by the Svetāmbara sect then it would have been hardly likely that they occupied in the eyes of the Digambara sect the status they do at present.
(a) The caste of Umāsvāti and His Place of Birth
The eulogy contains no mention clearly referring to caste; even so, the designation Vātsī indicative of the mother's gotra is present there in it, and the adjective Kaubhīşani too is indicative of gotra. This mention of gotra indicates that Umāsvāti belonged to the Brahmin-caste-an assertion to this effect would hardly sound objectionable to one who has closely studied the familial lineages of the Brahmin-caste so tenacious about its claim of relatedness to a particular gotra-tradition. In the form of Vācaka Umāsvāti's place of birth the eulogy mentions the village ‘Nyagrodhikā'. Where this Nyagrodhikā lies, what has been its
istory, what is its present state--all this is shrouded in darkness. And an investigation into it should prove interesting. In the form of the place where Tattvārtha was composed the eulogy mentions “Kusumapura'. This very Kusumapura is Patna of the present-day Bihar. Again, the eulogy says that Tattvārtha was composed while the author was on tour in Patna; on the basis of it the following ideas strike the mind.
(1) At the time of Umāsvāti-also somewhat earlier and somewhat later—there must have been a good deal of touring on the part of Jaina monks in Magadha; and in that part of the country the Jaina order must be possessing some considerable amount of strength and power-of-attraction.
(2) The Jaina monks writing on a particular branch of theoretical learning had kept intact their tradition of non-regular residence--thus turning their family (= entourage) into a veritable 'seminary on the move.'