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XXIV: TATTVĀRTHA SUTRA
Lord's faith only if he believes that these fundamental verities, as enunciated by the Lord are the truth even if he has not gained sufficient knowledge about them. It is for this reason that in the Jaina philosophy there is nothing more important than the knowledge of and faith in these nine fundamentals. Also, it is because of this reason that Vācaka Umāsvāti chose the description of these fundamentals as the subject matter of this treatise. However, he limited his discussion to seven fundamentals taking the other two - Punya and Pāpa as included within the ambit of influx (Āśrava) and stoppage (Sanivara). As, besides the ultimate objective of attaining spiritual salvation by the readers of his work, he also aimed at facilitating the understanding of this rather complex subject, he entitled this treatise as ‘Tattvārthādhigama Sutrāņi' meaning "Aphorisms For The Comprehension Of The Fundamental Verities'.
In this monumental work the author has not only struck a synthesis of the two much talked about approaches taken by the exponents of other philosophies of the time – the ‘Analysis Of The Knowledge Worthy (Iñeya-Tattva Mīmāmsa)' and 'Analysis of The Conduct (Caritra Mīmānisā) but went a step further to include the analysis of the knowledge (Iñāna Mīmānisa) and organized the sūtras accordingly. In sum, we can say that Vācaka Umāsvāti has included the analyses of the knowledgeworthy, the knowledge and the conduct, in accordance with the Jaina view-point, as the subject matter of this treatise.
The Division Of The Subject Matter
The author has divided the chosen subject matter, in ten
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