ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 377

The tattvas are explained in the aphoristic style; this is very important. The author has seriously thought about the content of the text. Aphorisms are full of important content and are in simplistic style. The mark of a sūtra is:
Alpākşaramasandhigdhaṁ sarvād güdhanirnayaṁl Nirdosaṁ hetumatathyaṁ sūtramityucyate buddhehall
It means, the sūtra is that which is of fewer words, free of doubt, all the essence, deeply decisive, flawless, with logic, complete with facts. It means in very less words, the much more is told in a simple and lucid way.
To write and make others understand the sūtras, both are very difficult. One has to be very cautious while writing the sūtras. Any irregularities may create misunderstandings. One cannot write more in the aphorisms. You may read my article "32 faults (dośas) of sūtra".
We can therefore see the name Tattvārtha-sūtra is so because the tattvas are described in the aphoristic style.
1.2 The author of Tattvārtha-sūtra: It is a pity that there is no foolproof data available about the author's place, parents, his teacher, time etc. Even there is a controversy about his name. Digambaras call him Umāsvāmi and the Svetāmbaras call him Umāsvāti. Who is right or wrong, cannot be established properly and both sects claim that the writer belongs to their tradition. Concerning the timing, there are differences and most scholars put the author in 2nd to 4th century AD.
1.3 Important commentaries of the Tattvärtha-sūtra: It has been mentioned that sutras are very serious and full of meanings and it is difficult to understand their meanings. Therefore one has to be very cautious about it. There are many ācāryas who have written commentaries on this text. There are more than 100 commentaries on it. It is difficult to talk of all of them, but let us see the following four important ones:
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