________________
Tattvārthasūtra
Sahay, Former District Magistrate and Sub-divisional Judge, Uttar Pradesh and a compendium of three volumes running over 1600 printed pages was published in 1930.
As mentioned by Shri V.K. Jain in his Preface, the first ever English translation of Sarvārthasiddhi' by Professor S. Appandai Jain was published by the name of 'Reality' by Vira Sasana Sangha, Calcutta in 1960. This book received rave reviews from the scholars. Professor Jain hailed from a village called Tiruppanamur in my district in Tamil Nadu. The 'samādhi' of venerable Bhatta Akalanka can be seen in this historical village even today. The name Appandai is the Tamil region-specific title of Lord Pārsvanātha. Professor S.A. Jain's younger brother took to digambara renunciation as Gajapati Sagar and was successful in the sallekhanā. Lest we forget, let me record the fact that Professor Jain received translation inputs from the illustrious guru, Shri Subbaiyya Sastri of Shravanabelagola Mutt, the famous historical Jain centre in south India. The English translation is a masterpiece in the annals of Jainism with scholarly erudition.
The author Shri V.K. Jain is already famous in the western world thanks to his numerous English translations of sacred texts. He has already published "Tattvārthasūtra' with a brief explanation of each aphorism. Possibly, a lesser known fact about him is that he is a bhāvalingī, i.e., a saint in worldly attire. I dare say that I have not seen another author of Jainism in English with such an exalted spirit.
The book at hand is another masterpiece for more than one reason. It carries brief Hindi translation of the aphorisms and more references from sacred books. It retains the original Sanskrit words from 'Tattvārthasūtra' in the body text thus giving an ample opportunity to the readers to enjoy the divine aroma of the sacred ‘Tattvārthasūtra'.I am sure, this book will also enrich the lexicon of English language with the addition of vocabulary from 'Tattvārthasūtra'. This book will be complementary to 'Reality' by Professor Jain.
Both 'Tattvārthasūtra'and 'Sarvārthasiddhi'elucidate seven-fold
(xii)
