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Biology in Jaina Treatise on Reals
(iv) He defines right faith as belief in the seven reals or six realities (of physical world) in contrast with Kundakunda's definition involving belief in (a) scriptures (b) the Attained alongwith (c) reals and realities which seems to be a development over the aphorist. (v) His order of seven spiritual reals stands better reasoning (vi) The name and order of twelve reflections is different from Kundakunda. (vii) The aphorist showed indifference over the monistic concept of idealism versus realism. (viii). The aphorist kept mum over the concept of eleven model stages of the householders. (ix). He excluded holy death from the list of the twelve minor vows for the householders. His order and classification is also more logical. (x-xi). He does neither have any discussion on the concepts of 14 spiritual stages (though he mentions some of them with reference to meditation) nor 14 investigational disquistitons. (xii). In contrast to many disquisition doors for aspectwise studies, he mentions only 6 or 8 (or 12 if four positings are also included) of them.
A third and presumably more reasonable opinition, thus, seems to emerge that the aphorist was a prominent figure living in a period prior to clearcut schismisation as pointed out earlier. He started an era of logical thinking which has been the basis for Jinistic conceptualisation. This translator concurs with this view and hopes the coming generation of the scholars will approve it.
Biography of the Aphorist - Umäsväti/ Umasvami
There is not much details available about the biography of this noted aphorist who followed the anonymistic trend of his own time. That is why, even a recent scholar raised a point whether the aphorist was a female. However, most scholars take him as a male and a scholarly saint. Two versions about his life-sketch are available and, therefore, there are two names of the aphorist as pointed out earlier. On this basis, some contended them as representing two persons. However, it is reasonable to presume that as Umasva ti is a common factor in the two names, the aphorist must be a single person by this name attached with different titles after schismic mentality developed. It is due to this that his biography is also marked with confusing details.
The D-version gives some inkling about his whole life without any details of his area of birth, parentage, lineage and literary compositions. In contrast, the S-version gives the later details without indication of his whole life sketch. If one assumes that the aphorist was a single person and a pre-schismic identity, his life-sketch could be reasonably compiled by inclusion of all the
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