Tattvartha sutra

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, D S Baya
Publisher: Agam Ahimsa Samta Evam Prakrit Samsthan

Page 37

XXXVI : TATTVĀRTHA SŪTRA
There is no room for doubt in the fact that he was learned in the scriptural knowledge contained in eleven primary canons (Arga Sūtras) and that he has compiled all the essential elements of the words of the prophet in his Tattvārtha Sūtra without leaving out anything of import.
It is for this reason that Ācārya Hema Candra, better known as the omniscient of the present era (Kalikāla Sarvajña), has described him as the best compiler of the Canonical knowledge. Also, it is for this reason that authors of explanatory works across the Svetambara-Digambara divide have been motivated to write commentaries on his Tattvārtha Sūtra.
Miscellaneous Coclusions About The Tattvārtha Sūtra -
In his scholarly and investigative work on Tattvārtha Sūtra and its tradition, Prof. Sagarmal Jain has reached the following conclusions: _20 a. Tattvārtha Sūtra (TS) is also known as Tattvārtha
dhigama Sūtra and many other names such as Moksa Šāstra etc Ts is a composition by Umāsvāti, a monk of the north Indian Nirgrantha tradition. Vācaka, Grddhapiccha, etc were his titles. Umāsvāti's period was somewhere between the 1st and the 4th century AD. As the Svetāmbara-Digamara schism had not become pronounced by that time, it is fruitless to argue whether Umāsvāti was from Svetāmbara,
20 Tattvārthasūtra Aur Uskī Paramparā, ibid, pp. 142–147. Jain Education International