Studies In Umasvati And His Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): G C Tripathi, Ashokkumar Singh
Publisher: Bhogilal Laherchand Institute of Indology

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The Jaina Universe in a Profile of
Cosmic Man
SUZUKO OHIRA
I have already written enough about Umāsvāti, his Tattvārthādhigamasūtra (T.S.), its auto-commentary, and some T.S. problems relevant to Jaina canonical texts in my two works, i.e. 'A Study of the Tattvārthasūtra with Bhāsya, (L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, 1982)' and 'A Study of the Bhagavatīsūtra—A Chronological Analysis' (Prakrit Text Society, Ahmedabad, 1994). There is not much I want to add here, particularly under the present situation when I am somewhat away from the Jaina studies proper. Such being the case, I would like to be allowed to contribute a brief paper to this Umāsvāti Seminar, by posing upon the Cosmic Man-shaped Jaina loka, and try to speculate when and why such a strange idea of the universe arose to the Jaina theoreticians, and if Umāsvāti himself knew about its significance.
Umāsvāti's T.S. was composed sometime in the late middle of the fifth century AD, is a compendium of the theoretical contents of massive Jaina canonical works. He organized it in terms of seven tattvas in some 350 sūtras, and wrote its commentary or bhāsya himself. Since then, it has become a common practice for the students of Jainology, to be introduced to the outline of Jainism through his Sabhāsya T.S. However, this prakarana,