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The Sāṁkhya-Yoga and the Jaina Theories of Parinama
The Tattvārtha-sūtra with the svopajña-bhāşya of Umāsvati is a work which is regarded as authentic both by the Svetāmbaras and the Digambaras, while the important works of the Digambarācārya Kundakunda viz.., Pravacanasāra, Pañcāstikāya, Samayasāra and Niyamasāra, which we are to consider are the prime authority of the Digambaras. The dates of these two Ācāryas cannot be fixed with certainty. According to Digambara tradition and scholars like Dr. Upadhyelt and Wirternitz15. Kundakunda lived in the first cent. A.D. and was anterior to Umāsvāti whose date is stated to be about the 3rd or 4th cent. A D.16 On the other hand certain scholarsli assign a later date to Kundakunda viz., beginning of the 5th cent. A.D. i.e. after Umāsvāti. It is not necessary for us to enter into this controversial issue. We shall, however, take up first the Tattvārtha in as much as it does not show such a detailed and elaborate treatment of metaphysical problems, especially of the concept of Pariņāma, as is seen in the works of Kundakunda.
The unique feature of the Tattvārtha is that it is the first of its kind in the whole of Jain philosophical literature, attempting to systematise all the tenets of the Jain system on the basis of the Āgamas. Further, as we know, the dārśanic-sūtra period of Indian Philosophy had come to a close by the time of Umasvāti and the age of commentaries on these sūtras had already set in. But there was not a single Jain Sanskrta (or Prakṛta) philosophical work so far written in the sūtra style. This need was fulfilled by the work of Umāsvāti which therefore comes to occupy the position of the first philosophical work written in Sanskrta and in the sūtra style in the whole of Jain literature. The works of Kundakunda too, are the first to be written systematically in Prāksta verses. They treat the very same philosophical problems that are dealt with in the Āgamas and the Tattvārtha, though they cannot be said to be based on the Āgamas as their authority is denied by the Digambaras.
14 Pravacanasāra Introduction p. xxii. 15 History of Indian Literature Vol. II, p.476. 16 History of Indian Literature, Winternitz. Vol. II, p.578.
Pt. Sukhalalji's Introduction to the Tattvārtha (Gujarati) p 11. 17 Muni Kalyāņavijaya's Śram aņa Bhagavān Mahavira (Hindi) p.392.
