Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
- 96 - It is based on. Our efforts so far have been unsuccessful in achieving our goal. Now let us examine the fourth category of sutras. The Shvetambara version does not contain the sutra "sad-dravya-lakshanam" (5:29), whereas in the Digambara version, this sutra appears just before "utpad-vyaya-dhrauvya-yuktam sat" [29 (30)]. Here the question arises, in what context is the statement about 'sat'? It has been explained in relation to pudgala, that is, in the context of sutras 5:23-36, among which sutras 25-28 and 32-36 describe the atom-skandhas as follows:
Atom-skandha (25-28) (25: The atom-skandha as distinctions of pudgala) (28: The cause of the skandha's visibility) (32-36: The process of pudgalic bondage, sat-nityatva) (29: The tri-dimensional interpretation of sat) (30: Explanation of nityatva) (31: The rationale of sutras 29-30) (dravya 37-44, guna-paryaya-parinama, kala).
It is surprising that sutras 5:29-31 are placed with atom-skandha when it would have been appropriate to explain them with dravya. For resolving this issue, it is essential to clarify whether sutra 5:29 was added later or not.
The commentary on sutra 5:28 states - “dharmadini santiti katham gata iti/atraucyate lakshanataḥ.” This does not clearly mention that dravya is characterized by sat, as it does in the overall meaning of the commentary for sutra 5: (29) which indicates that 'sat' means 'that dravya'. The commentary implies that the existence of these dravyas can only be established based on the nature of 'sat'. This sets the stage for the next sutra. This inferential method of establishing the existence of substances is not of Jain Agama. Its source should be sought in the non-Jain literature that existed during the time of Umaswati. In the fourth chapter of the Vaisheshika Sutra written by Chandrananda, it is stated: "sadkaranavat tanniṭyam. 1. tasya karya lingam. 2. karanabhavadhi karyabhavah. 3. anityam - iti ca visesha-pratishedha-bhavah. 4. mahatyanekadravyatvat rupacchop."