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INTRODUCTION.
Niyamsåra is one of the most renowned Adhyatmic works of Shri Kund Kunda Acharya. He was the preceptor of Shri Uma Swami, the renowned author of Shri Tatwartha Dhigama Sútra.
The Sanskrit commentary of Niyamsåra was written by Shri Padma Prabha Maldhari Deva, who appears to have lived about 1000 A, D. He was preceded by Shri Amrit Chandra Acharya, who wrote Sanskrit commentaries on Panchastikaya, Pravachansara and Samayasara, the great monumental works on Jaina metaphysics by Shri Kund Kunda Acharya. Padma Prabha has frequently quoted and referred to some of the verses of Amrit Chandra in his commentary on Niyamsara.
In 1912 a lucid Commentary with learned explanatory notes was written in Hindi by Jaina Dharma Bhushan Brahmachari Sital Prasadaji. No other Commentary in Hindi is available.
In 1928, the said Brahmachariji, at the request of the local Jainas passed the rainy season at Rohtak and stayed there from the 30th June to the 12th November. It was through his kind persuation and encouragement, that the English translation of this work was undertaken and finished by me. The translation and commentaries were written under direct and immediate supervision of Brahma. chariji.
The treatise is named Niyamsåra, because it deals with the path of liberation, which is Right Belief, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct, the three jewels of faith combined. The word Niyama literally means, “rule or law," and Sàra means “the right.” Niyamsåra thus signifies the Right Rule, i. e., the true and indispensable law for the attainment of liberation.
The sole object and the whole gist of this treatise is to show that the all-pure, all-conscious, all-blissful and self-absorbed soul alone is the Siddha, a perfect soul. If a soul is in bondage with karmic matter, i. e., if it has any connection, whatsoever, with the Non-Soul, it is imperfect, and under delusion. It is imperfection or
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