Tattvartha Sutra That Which Is

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

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Tattvartha Sutra
ABOUT THE BOOK-
Jain scriptural books have been classified into four simple types. They are
1, Charankarnanuyog
2, Ganitanuyog
3, Dharmakathanuyog 4, Dravyanuyog
The first type of books mainly describes ethics and code of conducts Examples of such books are- Acharanga Sutra, Dasvaikalik, Ratnakarand, Shravakachar.
The second type of books narrates cosmology and mathematical parts of karma theory. Books like Surya Pragnapti, Chandra Pragnapti, Kshetra Samas, Brihat Sangrahani etc. fall into this category.
In category three, we have books on many aspects of Jain philosophy which have been explained in simple stories. Books like Gnatadharmakatha, Upasakdashah, Mahapuran, Padmapuran etc. fall into this category.
The last and fourth type is Dravyanuyog. This book, Tattvarthasutra, and books like Sutrakritanga, Samvayang, Sanmati Tarka, etc. come into this category. The fourth category is held in high esteem which is the category of logic, entomology and epistemology. In the books of Dravyamuog, the subject matter is sometimes difficult for an ordinary person to grasp. Tattvarthasutra
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Tattvartha Sutra
is one such book where the subject matter is quite deep and needs some basic understanding of logic as well. My book is prepared for Jains and non-Jains alike and especially keeps a wider readership in mind. I have therefore taken main points of the philosophy and explained them in a simple manner. I am aware that some readers may find this too simple, but again, my aim is to use this book as a starting point and then go on to other books on Jain logic. For this purpose, I have used diagrams and sketches to make the themes interesting and easy to grasp.
AUTHOR
Returning to the author Umaswatiji, there is no definite date as to when he was born or where he lived for most of his life. There are conflicting opinions amongst scholars about the period he lived
in.
Let us enumerate the opinions:- Digambara sect believes that-
a, The author's name was Umaswami or Umaswati
b, He was a disciple of a great monk, Kundkundacharya
Shvetambara sect believes that
a, The author's name was Umaswati b, He was the Guru of Shyamacharya.
The author wrote a commentary on these works and mentions the following points
1, The name of his guru who initiated him in monkshood.
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