Jain Digest 2007 11 1

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

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JAIN DIGEST⚫ Winter 2007
much as Shrutkevalis, who were the masters of the entire canonical literature. Both these epithets are appropriate in his case. This is evident from the fact that he has included in this small treatise almost everything that Jainism has to convey. His handling of the subject is superb and he has presented the Sutras as if they had naturally occurred to him. That shows his command over Sanskrit.
Two slightly differing names occur for the authorship of Tattvärtha. Shwetämbar Jains term it as Umäswäti, while Digambar Jains mostly term it as Umäswämi. Shwetämbar Jains consider him as belonging to their tradition mainly on the ground of Tattvärthabhäshya, a commentary of Tattvärtha, which is supposed to be a work of the original author. At its end it is stated that the book was written at Kusumpur (present Patna) by Vächak Umäswäti, the pupil of Ghoshnandi belonging to Uchchairnägar branch. Since Uchchairnägar branch was a part of Shwetambar fold, it can be surmised that the author belonged to the Shwetämbar sect. Digambar Jains, however, do not accept Tattvärthabhäshya as written by the original author. They insist that the author was a Digambar monk. Their contention is that Tattvärtha Sutra was written by Umäswämi before Bhäsya, which could have been written by someone known as Umäswäti. As such, they generally ignore Bhäshya and rely on Sarvärthasiddhi and other commentaries written by Digambar scholars.
The contention of the author belonging to Digambar sect seems plausible in light of the following considerations. i) The book specifies seven Tattvas (fundamentals) as per Digambar tradition instead of nine as per Shwetambar one. ii) While dealing with laymen's restraints, it treats Deshviarti as seventh restraint immediately after Digvirati and treats Upbhogparibhog as eleventh after Paushadhopväs. That is a Digambar tradition. In Shwetambar tradition, Bhogopabhog is treated as seventh restraint and Deshvirati as tenth after Sämäyik. That is justifiable, because Jain tradition treats the last four restraints as disciplinary; Deshvirati is a disciplinary restraint, while Bhogopabhog is not.
No date of composing Tattvärtha Sutra has been mentioned in the text or in the commentaries. From the language, style and presentation of the composition, however, it is believed that the author prepared it in first or second century CE. That is close to the time of Kundkundächärya, Moreover, the contents of Tattvärtha are in line with those of Panchästikäy and other writings of Kunkundächärya. It is therefore possible that Tattvärtha might have been written with the purpose of presenting in Sanskrit the essence of Prakrit writings of Kundkundacharya. In view of that resemblance and closeness of their time, Digambar scholars have been prompted to treat the author of Tattvärtha as a pupil of Kundkundächärya. There are reasons to believe that the division between Shwetambar and Digambar was not rigid until the time, when
Tattvärtha Sutra was written. Those labels also did not exist at
that time. The history of Jainism indicates that while Lord Mahaveer mostly remained unclad, there were clad as well as unclad monks in his order and they amicably stayed together.
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national.
Neither of them had an edge over the other. As such, Ägams, composed on the basis of Lord's teaching, acknowledge the prevalence of clad as well as unclad order.
That amicability could have continued until the time of Jambuswämi, who was the last omniscient of the present time cycle. The discontent could have started thereafter. As Lord Mahaveer had mostly remained unclad after his renunciation, the unclad group might have contended that they were true followers of the Lord and considered the clad ones as slack in observing Lord's code. They might have developed disregard for the scriptural precepts pertaining to the clad order and disputed the authenticity of the relevant texts. Since Ägams composed by Ganadhars were not put to writing, there came about different views about their versions. The first conference was convened about 170 years after passing away of Lord Mahaveer to decide about the true version. It seems that the version so brought out gave justice to both the groups and was considered generally acceptable. The radical section of the unclad group was perhaps dissatisfied with that outcome, but there was no cleavage at that time. That uneasy situation seems to have continued till the time, when Tattvärtha Sutra was written. The book therefore does not refer to the difference between clad and unclad order. That has made it acceptable to Shwetämbar as well as Digambar Jains.
The division between the two groups could have begun after the second century, when the unclad group formally disowned the traditional scriptures on the ground that they no longer represented the original teaching of the Lord and started composing their own books that justified only the unclad order. The difference became acute by the time of Sarvärthasiddhi, which presents the unclad order as the only way that can lead to liberation. With that end in view, the author might have altered the Sutras that were not in conformity with Digambar views, added a few on his own and given new interpretations to several others. This accounts for the difference in number of Sutras and for the slightly differing versions of the text. The differences between the Shwetämbar and the Digambar texts mainly occur at four places. The first occurs in chapter 3, where Sarvärthasiddhi has 21 additional Sutras after Sutra number 11. That does not alter the overall texture, because the additional Sutras relate to the colors and other details of mountains, lakes, rivers, and such other geographical aspects of Jamboodweep, which is the center of middle world. The second occurs in chapter 4, where Shwetämbar version specifies 12 heavenly abodes, while Digambar version mentions 16. The third occurs in chapter 5, where Shwetämbar version mentions Time as being considered as a separate substance, while Digambar version specifically states it as a separate substance. The fourth occurs in chapter 8, where Shwetämbar version mentions favorable situations, right perception, merriment, affection, male instinct, comfortable life style, good physique and noble family as resulting from wholesome bondage, whereas Digambar version does not refer to these as resulting from that category of bondage.
At two other places, while the texts remain identical, differences
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