Tattvartha Sutra

Tattvārthasūtra

The first systematic Jain text in Sanskrit, accepted by both Shvetambara and Digambara Jains, covering the whole of Jain doctrine.

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Tradition: Jain philosophy
Difficulty: intermediate
Attribution: UmasvatiUmasvati (called Umasvami by Digambaras)
Period · language: Scholars place it between roughly the 2nd and 5th centuries CE · Sanskrit
Themes: Soul · Karma · Liberation · Ethics · Knowledge

Why read this?

It is the one text all major Jain traditions accept. In ten short chapters it sets out the Jain view of the soul, karma as subtle matter, ethics and the path to liberation.

Questions it answers

?What is the soul, and how is it bound?
?How can karma be stopped and shed?
?What is right faith, knowledge and conduct?

Key teachings

Editorial overview

The three jewels

The opening sutra states that right faith (samyag darshana), right knowledge and right conduct together form the path to liberation.

Seven tattvas

Reality is analysed into seven principles: soul (jiva), non-soul (ajiva), influx of karma (asrava), bondage (bandha), stopping of influx (samvara), shedding of karma (nirjara) and liberation (moksha).

Karma as matter

Karma is subtle matter that adheres to the soul through passions and activity, obscuring its innate knowledge and bliss.

Non-harm and vows

The ethical chapters set out vows centred on non-harm (ahimsa), truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession, with graded forms for monastics and laypeople.

Standpoints of knowledge

It discusses kinds of knowledge and standpoints (naya), an early source for the Jain emphasis on many-sidedness.

Structure

Ten chaptersAbout 350 sutras; Shvetambara and Digambara versions differ slightly

Important passages

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References only — the passages themselves are not reproduced until the source text is ingested.

Tattvartha Sutra 1.1Right faith, knowledge and conduct as the path to liberation

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The text of the Tattvartha Sutra is not part of this version. What you see here is an editorial overview with passage references. No verses have been reproduced or invented. The architecture is ready for the text to be added.

Concepts

ConceptजीवJiva — the individual soulThe living, embodied individual who acts, experiences and transmigrates.Conceptकर्मKarmaAction — and the way actions shape future experience.ConceptअहिंसाAhimsa — non-harmNot harming living beings, in deed, word or thought.Conceptमोक्षMoksha — liberationFinal freedom from bondage and the cycle of rebirth.Conceptअनेकान्तवादAnekantavadaThe Jain doctrine that reality is many-sided and no single viewpoint captures it fully.Conceptतत्त्वTattva — principle of reality'Thatness' — a basic category or principle of reality, counted differently by different schools.ConceptसंसारSamsara — the cycle of rebirthThe round of birth, death and rebirth driven by action and ignorance.Conceptआसक्तिAsaktiAttachment: clinging to objects, people or outcomes.Conceptज्ञानJnana — knowledgeLiberating knowledge — seeing reality and the Self as they are.Conceptक्रोधKrodhaAnger, often described as frustrated desire.Conceptनिर्वाणNirvanaThe 'blowing out' of craving, hatred and delusion — the Buddhist goal; also used in the Gita as brahma-nirvana.Conceptप्रमाणPramana — means of valid knowledgeThe accepted sources of valid knowledge, such as perception, inference and testimony.

Textधम्मपदDhammapadaAnother shramana tradition's ethical teaching Textसाङ्ख्यकारिकाSankhya KarikaBoth hold a plurality of souls distinct from matter

Thinkers

Thinkerउमास्वातिUmasvatiScholars place him anywhere between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE; dates are debated.ThinkerमहावीरMahaviraTraditionally 599–527 BCE; many scholars place him later, as a contemporary of the Buddha in the 5th century BCE.

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Traditions

जैन दर्शनJain philosophy

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