Book Title: Jainism And Its History
Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Research Foundation for Jainology

Previous | Next

Page 138
________________ Jinasena. These commentaries mainly deal with Jaina philosophy in general and Karma theory in particular. IMPORTANT PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF JAINISM Among the Jaina philosophical works composed between c. 3rd-10th A.D., the Tattvärthasutra, with its auto-commentary by Umasvati is the pioneer one and may be considered as the first systematic work on Jaina philosophy. Composed in c. 3rd A. D., it also has the credit of being the first Samskrta work of Jaina literature, written in the style of other Sutragranthas of Indian philosophy. The especiality of this work is that it is equally respected as well as accepted by both the sects of Jainism Svetambara and Digambara. It encompasses ten chapters dealing with Jaina metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Its first chapter deals mainly with Jaina theory of knowledge, Naya and Niksepa, second with Jiva (living substance), third and fourth with hells and heavens, fifth with Jaina metaphysics, sixth to ninth chapters with Jaina doctrine of Karma and Jaina Sadhanas or ethical code of conduct of house-holders and monks, respectively. Finally, the tenth one deals with the concept of liberation (Moksa). Notably, the concept of Guṇasthāna and Saptabhanginaya (Seven-fold judgment) are totally absent in it. This shows that these concepts came into existence later during c. 5th-6th A.D. After Tattvārthasūtra, Acārya Siddhasena Divākara's Sanmatitarka is the next critical and important work, composed in c. 4th A. D. in Prakrta verses. It explains critically the concept of Dravya (substance), Guna (properties), Paryaya (modes) and their mutual relationship on the basis of the Jaina theory of Naya, Niksepa and Anekantavāda (non-absolutism). It is the first work in which one-sided views of other philosophers Jainism and its History 136

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328