Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, Manu Doshi
Publisher: Shrutratnakar Ahmedabad

Page 15

INTRODUCTION
Among all the Jain religious books, Tattvärtha Sutra occupies a unique position. It is possible that a Jain might not have heard the names of our sacred Ägams. Ächärang Sutra, for instance, is the first and the foremost Ägam, but very few Jains know what it is about. Most of them, however, might have heard about Tattvärtha Sutra. There are several reasons for that. The most important is that it is the only composition that is acceptable to all the Jains. Shwetämbar Jains regard it with a high sense of sanctity, while Digambar Jains consider it a sacred Ägam and term it as Mokshashästra (the scripture for liberation). Not only its text, even its commentary written by Pujyapädswämi under the title Sarvärthasiddhi is treated as Ägam in Digambar tradition.
Another reason for its importance lies in the fact that Tattvärtha Sutra deals with almost every aspect of Jainism. Nothing is virtually left out. As such, one can get a fairly good concept of Jainism by studying it. One can keep aside all other works, if he likes. Moreover, if one wants to study Jainism at depth, there are many commentaries of Tattvärtha Sutra prepared by great Ächäryas and other learned men belonging to both the major denominations. Some of those commentaries