Jain Literature

Author(s): Paul Marett
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

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Tattvartha Sutra was written at of three Sanskrit words tattva, determining the nature of Pataliputra, modern Patna in truc nature, artha, thing, and things' as Pandit Sukhlalji puts it Bihar in northern India. adhigama, knowledge. It may (1974, p5), or the holding of the Umasvati has been credited then be translated 'a manual for truth as true (das Fur-wahrwith the authorship of five the knowledge of the true halten der Wahrheiten) in hundred works: only a few of nature of things'.
Jacobi's wordsi 1906, p292) (1.21
The most ancient sacred This right faith originates either extant.
books of the Jains, those which spontaneously by nature or Despite the uncertainty about are recognised as the canon, at through instruction 11.3). The its origin one thing is certain, the least by the Svetambara, were seven fundamental truths are Tattvartha Sutra is one of the compiled in Ardha-Magadhi, a listed in verse 4: jiva, soul, and most important religious texts of Prakrit or popular spoken ajiva, non-soul, asvara, inflow of the Jains, respected and widely language as distinct from the karma to the soul bandha, read by Svetambara and Sanskrit of the scholarly stream binding to the soul. samvara, Digambara alike. Indeed it has among Jain thinkers (Succeeding cessation of inflow, nirjara, (with some exaggeration) been centuries were to see, of course, shedding of accumulated karma, compared with the Qur'an of the a vast output of Jain literature in and the goal of the preceding Muslims or the Christian Bible. It Sanskrit.) The Tattvartha Sutra is four, moksa or final liberation. is read and studied both short: it consists of 357 terse This list of seven tattva omits privately and in temple worship: aphorisms of a few words each, two which are added in many among the Digambara it the whole divided into ten other texts, punya and papa, occupies the same central place chapters of uneven lengh, Taken merit and demerit or good and in the religious observances together these chapters present bad results in karma: these may during Paryushan that the Kalpa an epitome of Jainism. The ideas be regarded as subsumed in Sutra does for the Svetembara are not new, they are to be asrava and bandha. It is probably the most found in the Agama canonical These first four verses, then, important work which is texts in scattered form, but here sum up the basic fundamentals accepted by both major they brought together for the of Jainism. The remaining thirtybranches of Jainism. Although it first time in a structured system. one verses of Chapter 1 discuss falls outside the collection of So short and pithy is the text in the process of cognition, the most ancient texts accepted as some places that it has more the different types of knowledge the sacred canon by the characteristics of an aide and their acquisition being Svetambara, yet it is regarded memoire easily committed to analysed and classified in some by them as a most authoritative memory than a full and detailed detail. In other words, the exposition of Jain belief. As a manual, to be filled out by the mechanism of right faith and short terse text it has needed commentators whether in knowledge is discussed (right further explanation and has writing or orally.
conduct being deferred to been supplemented by a very
Chapters VII and IX). After this large number of commentaries, FUNDAMENTALS OF JAINISM the subsequent chapters take the oldest of which has been AND THE NATURE OF up the seven fundamental ascribed in Svetambara circles COGNITION
truths in order: these are in (though improbablyl to the The first verse of the first effect the objects of right faith author of the main text himsell. chapter expresses the three and knowledge.
The Tattvartha Sutra is also jewels, ratna traya, of Jainisin: known as the Tattvarthadhigama samyag darsana inana SOUL. NON-SOUL AND THE Sutra (though it has been charitrani moksa margahili) NATURE OF THE UNIVERSI. argued (see Zydenbos 1983, right faith, knowledge and Three chapters, Il to IV. are 11) that this name referred conduct are the means to concerned with the soul, jiva, in originally to the oldest moksa'. 'Right faith is a rather all its manifestations. The main commentary on the Sutra). A simplistic translation of samyag characteristic which delines a sutra is a religious text, darsana, though it is commonly soul is upayoga (11.8). Jain generally a manual of short encountered. Right faith, in this thinkers refer to three qualities aphorisms. The title context. means rather the of the soul, consciousness, bliss 'Tattvarthadhigama' is made up inclination towards validly and energy. Umasvati here takes