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JANUARY, 1994
SUZUKO OHIRA-A Study of Tattvärthasutra with Bhāṣya with special reference to Authorship and Date, L. D. Series 86, L. D. Institute of Ahmedabad, 1982, pp. x + 182, Price Rs. 48.00
149
Dr Suzuko Ohira is to be congratulated for her work, A Study of the Tattvärthasutra with Bhāṣya and L. D. Institute is to be thanked for undertaking such a publication for the benefit of the Jaina scholars. The work shows the deep and strenuous research of
Dr Ohira.
The Tattvärthasutra is recognized as an authoritative text both by the Svetambaras and Digambaras; both claim that it belongs to their traditions. The Svetambaras think that the Bhāṣya is written by the author himself, while the Digambaras proclaim that it is not written by the author. However, Dr Ohira has tried to solve this problem. The date of the work is assigned to the 5th cent. A.D. The controversial point about the name of the author, Umasvami or Umāsväti, still remains unsolved.
The book has three chapters with several sub-sections along with notes and Bibliography in the Appendix. In Chapter I, the author has discussed the original version of the text, Tattvärthasūtra; whereas in Ch. II, it is discussed whether the Bhāṣya is an autocommentary or not. In Ch. III, the historical evaluation of the Tattvärthasutra is discussed.
The Tattvärthasutra is a very important book on Jaina logic. A thorough analysis of the text together with a comparative study with other schools prevalent at that time has long been a desideratum. Dr Ohira has nicely discussed the historical aspect of the work, but the Jaina world would have been much benefited, if she had discussed the above mentioned problem of the text in her book. We can only hope that Dr Ohira would take up this subject in future.
On the whole, the book shows a thorough mastery over the subject, and I hope the work will be appreciated by the scholars.
Satya Ranjan Banerjee
FILITA BHARUCHA- Role of Space-Time in Jaina's Syädvada and Quantum Theory, Sri Satguru Publications of Indian Books Centre, Shakti Nagar, Delhi, 1993, pp, vii+69. Price Rs. 120.00
It is one of the rarest contributions to the field of Jainism where the Syadvāda in Jain Philosophy is interpreted in the light of Quantum Theory of Space and Time. Dr Bharucha is to be praised for unfolding such an acute problem to the world of Jainistic studies.
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