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Equal consideration. In this examination, the Lord has described nine elements, placing firm faith in them as the primary condition of Jainism. Whether a renunciant or a householder, one can only be considered a follower of Mahavira's path if they hold faith in these elements, that is, if they have the inclination to perceive these elements as the truth, even if they have not attained sufficient knowledge of them. For this reason, no other subject holds as much importance in Jain philosophy as these nine elements. Because of this situation, Acharya Umaswati deemed these nine elements appropriate as the subject of his presented scripture, describing them in verses categorized by the number seven, and named it 'Tattvarthadhigama' according to the subject of these verses. Umaswati perceived a confluence of both knowledge-centric and character-centric perspectives in the examination of the nine elements, yet he recognized the utility of elucidating the well-discussed proof-examination of his time within it. Thus, he expanded his treatise to include knowledge-examination as a subject in addition to the nine elements and planned to present Jain knowledge-examination in his own verses instead of the logical proof-examination of the Nyaya philosophy. In this holistic manner, it should be stated that Umaswati adopted knowledge, that which is to be known, and character as the three examinations according to the Jain perspective in the subject of his verses.
Division of the Subject - Umaswati has divided the subject of Tattvarth into ten chapters as follows— the first chapter discusses knowledge, the second to the fifth chapters address the known, and the sixth to the tenth chapters examine character. In all these chapters, the main and essential points of the three examinations mentioned are briefly compared with other perspectives.
Essential points of Knowledge Examination - The main eight points related to knowledge discussed in the first chapter are as follows - 1. Division of knowledge in terms of standpoint and proof. 2. Classification of the five types of knowledge recognized in the Jaina tradition (like perception, inference) in terms of direct and indirect proof. 3. Means of the genesis of intellectual knowledge, its distinctions, and the sequential types indicating its genesis. 4. Description of the Agama scriptures, recognized as proof in the Jain tradition, as auditory knowledge.