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The Text of the Tatvarthādhigama-sūtrāņi
Most of the philosophical schools in India have a Sutra work of their own which summarises and arranges their philosophical tenets. The only Sutra work of Jainism of any importance is no doubt the Tatvarthadhigama-Sūtrāņi1 of Vacaka Umāsvāti, which is their most authoritative book. Besides being the clearest epitome of the Jain philosophy, it has the further advantage of being recognized as authoritative by both the sects of the Jain community, the Digambaras and the Svetambars. Both the sects accept the text of the work with slight changes in the Sutra Pathas. Its popularity and importance can be further seen by the great number of commentaries and subcommentaries on it written by the greatest scholars of both the sects. Tradition would like us to suppose that the whole of the work in its present shape belongs to Umāsvāti, and embodies the philosophical principles of Jainism as preached by Mahāvīra, their last Tīrthankara. But the work presents us many interesting problems about its text and its development which it is worth our while to consider.
The Sutra of Umäsvāti has come down to us in two different recensions each belonging to one of the two sects of the Jain community. The Śvetāmbara recension differs greatly from the one accepted by the Digambaras both as regards its wording and interpretation. Another important difference between the traditions of these two communities is the fact that the Digambaras own only the Sutras as the work of Umāsvāti and the commentators of this sect write their glosses on the Sutras only, while the Śvetāmbaras add a Bhāṣya to the work which they attribute to Umāsvāti himself and call it a Svopajña Bhāṣya. Thus both the Sutras and the accompanying Bhāṣya form the text to the Svetambara commentators to comment upon. This difference has caused many other divergences between the two sects. Of them the question of interpretation and the consequent differences of opinion on theological points is of less importance in
| SR No. | 006968 |
| Book Title | Amrita Collected Papers by A M Ghatage |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Jitendra B Shah |
| Publisher | Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi Ahmedabad |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 530 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 10 MB |