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English Translations of the
Tattvārthādhigamasūtra
COLETTE CAILLAT
Considering the importance of the value of the Tattvārthādhigamasūtra as proved by the impressive number of traditional commentaries, we might expect that many translations of this treatise into western languages might have been published. In fact the number of translations has been rather limited possibly for two main reasons: 1. Because of the difficulties inherited in the Sūtra literary
genre, all such texts presuppose a perfect knowledge of the whole context, And this is valid especially in the case of Tattvārthādhigamasūtra which is an 'exposition' (anuyoga) that synthesizes virtually the entire Jaina doctrinal system into a mere 350 sūtras' (P.S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification, 82, 1-3). Because of the many technicalities (including the specialized vocabulary) which one encounters, and which constitute many stumbling blocks for those who are not familiar with Jainism. Even an eminent scholar like H. Jacobi considered the text impossible to understand thoroughly before the publication of a bhāsya; even then he relied on other
