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Niyamasara
Who are we dim-witted to enunciate the meaning of this SuperScripture (paramagama) composed by the Gaṇadharas, the possessors of virtue, and articulated flawlessly by the successive śrutadharas?
नियमसार
Some Insights into 'Niyamasāra'
The book contains 187 gāthās but a few publications carry only 186. A careful scrutiny revealed that gathā number 159 is missing in such publications. There are 12 chapters with the average number of over 15 gāthās per chapter. The chapter-wise gathās are 19, 18, 18, 21, 18, 12, 6, 9, 12, 7, 18 and 29 in number. The seventh chapter on alocană has the least number of 6 gāthās and the last one with the most number of 29 gāthās. Four chapters, viz., II, III, V and XI, have 18 gāthās each. The last chapter is in the form of an epilogue or culikā and captures the discussion points post-release of the book in the sangha. This seemed to have been the practice in Acārya Kundkunda's sangha as is evident from the culikā chapter of his magnum opus, 'Samayasāra'.
The terms such as paramāņu, skandha, samaya are unique to Jain ontology. The metaphysical terms such as bhāva, pratikramana, alocană, pratyakhyāna, avaśyaka and samadhi, etc., have been dealt extensively in manuals like 'Mūlācāra' and thus have larger connotations. The readers are well advised to expand their scope beyond the equivalent words attempted in this book and elsewhere too. The objective of Jain dharma is to liberate a deserving soul from the clutches of bonded life. In this process, the evolving worthy soul traverses through heaven till it takes final human birth which is necessary to attain parinirvana. So the soul enjoys svarga (heavenly life) and apavarga or mokṣa (liberation) and hence svargāpavarga is the fruit of practice of Jain dharma. A careful perusal of the title of the chapters will reveal the processes of developing excellence and at the same time enhancing happiness. A beginner could apply these steps in one's personal life and get convinced of its supreme par excellence value. In 'Tattvärthasūtra' (9:2) gupti precedes samiti (see gāthā 61). The venerable Acārya obviously prescribed samiti as these are easier to observe and are measurable metrics in the spiritual progression. The gathā no. 68 prohibiting violence of the types must be for the laity with partial vows.
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