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{{short description|Jain religious text}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox religious text
| image = Tattvarthsutra.jpg
| alt = Tattvartha Sutra
| caption = ''Tattvartha sutra''
| religion = [[Jainism]]
| author = [[Umaswami]]
| language = [[Sanskrit]]
| period = 2nd to 5th century<ref name=dundaspo395/><ref name="Slaje2008">{{citation |author=Walter Slaje| title=Śāstrārambha: Inquiries Into the Preamble in Sanskrit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fD0Ypvxmzj8C| year=2008| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn=978-3-447-05645-8|pages=35 with footnote 23}}</ref>
| chapters = 10
| sutras = 350
}}
{{Jainism}}
'''''Tattvārthasūtra''''', meaning "On the Nature [<nowiki/>''[[artha]]''] of Reality [<nowiki/>''[[tattva]]'']" (also known as '''''Tattvarth-adhigama-sutra''''' or '''''Moksha-shastra''''') is an ancient [[Jain text]] written by ''[[Acharya (Jainism)|Acharya]]'' [[Umaswami]] in [[Sanskrit]], sometime between the 2nd- and 5th-century CE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-TattvrthaStra.html|title=Tattvārtha Sūtra|work=encyclopedia.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=86}}<ref name=dundaspo395>{{cite book|author=Paul Dundas|editor=Patrick Olivelle|title=Between the Empires : Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977507-1|pages=395–396}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Hemacandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quNpKVqABGMC|title=The Lives of the Jain Elders|author2=R. C. C. Fynes|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-283227-6|page=xxxix}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Sir Monier Monier-Williams|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUezTfym7CAC|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged|author2=Ernst Leumann|author3=Carl Cappeller|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=2002|isbn=978-81-208-3105-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=vi}}

The ''Tattvārthasūtra'' is regarded as one of the earliest, most authoritative texts in [[Jainism]]. It is accepted as authoritative in both its major sub-traditions – ''[[Digambara]]'' and ''[[Śvētāmbara]]'' – as well as the minor sub-traditions. It is a philosophical text, and its importance in Jainism is comparable with that of the ''[[Brahma Sutras]]'' and ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]'' in [[Hinduism]]. In an aphoristic [[sutra]] style of ancient Indian texts, it presents the complete Jainism philosophy in 350 sutras over 10 chapters.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|p=82}}<ref>{{cite book|author=K. V. Mardia|title=The Scientific Foundations of Jainism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_VCbRgKKNYC|year=1990|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0658-0|page=103|quote= '''Quote:''' Thus, there is a vast literature available but it seems that Tattvartha Sutra of Umasvati can be regarded as the main philosophical text of the religion and is recognized as authoritative by all Jains."}}</ref> The text has attracted numerous commentaries, translations and interpretations since the 5th-century.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=48}}

One of its sutras, ''[[Parasparopagraho Jivanam]]'' is the motto of Jainism. Its meaning is interpreted as "(The function) of souls is to help one another",{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=72}} or "Souls render service to one another".{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|p=131}}

==Names==
''Tattvartha Sutra'' is also known in Jainism as the ''Moksha-shastra'' (Scripture describing the path of liberation).{{sfn|Cort|2001|p=16-17}}{{sfn|S.A. Jain|1992|p=}}

== Content ==
The text written in [[Sanskrit]],{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=48}} begins with an invocation:{{quote|I bow to the Lord, the promulgator of the path to liberation, the destroyer of mountains of karmas and the knower of the whole of reality, so that I may realize these qualities.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=1}}}}
The first verse of ''Tattvārthsūtra'', "{{lang|sa|सम्यग्दर्शनज्ञानचारित्राणि मोक्षमार्ग:}}" summarizes the Jaina path to liberation. It means that the [[Ratnatraya]] (three jewels: right view, right knowledge and right conduct) collectively constitutes the path to liberation or [[Moksa (Jainism)|moksha]].{{sfn|Cort|2001|p=16-17}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=2}}

Its ten chapters are:{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=xi}}
#Faith and Knowledge
#The Category of the Living
#The Lower World and the Middle World
#The Celestial Beings
#The Category of the Non-Living
#Influx of Karma
#The Five Vows
#Bondage of Karma
#Stoppage and Shedding of Karma
#Liberation

[[File:Samyak Darsana Chart.jpg|thumb|Chart showing Samyak Darsana as per Tattvarthasutra]]
The first chapter deals with the process of cognition and details about different types of knowledge. The next three chapters deal with the [[Jīva (Jainism)|Jīva]] (soul), lower worlds, ''naraka'', and celestial abodes, ''[[Deva (Jainism)|devas]]''. The fifth chapter discusses the Non-soul (''[[Ajiva|ajīva]]''). The next three chapters deal with the ''[[Karma in Jainism|karmas]]'' and their manifestations and the influx, ''[[asrava]]'', good and bad ''karma'', ''shubha-ashubha karma'' and the [[Bandha (Jainism)|bondage of the karmas]]. The ninth chapter describes the blocking, ''[[samvara]]'' and shedding of the karmas, ''[[nirjara]]''. The final chapter discusses ''[[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]'' or the liberation of the soul.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|p=82}}

===Seven categories of truth===
The theology in ''Tattvartha Sutra'' presents seven categories of truth in sutra 1.4:{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|p=xviii-xx, 2-3, 6}}
#Souls exist ([[Jīva (Jainism)|Jeeva]])
#Non-sentient matter exists ([[Ajiva|Ajeeva]])
#Karmic particles exist that inflow to each soul ([[Asrava|Aasrava]])
#Karmic particles bind to the soul {which transmigrate with rebirth} ([[Bandha (Jainism)|Bandha]])
#Karmic particles inflow can be stopped ([[Samvara|Samvar]])
#Karmic particles can fall away from soul ([[Nirjara]])
#Complete release of karmic particles leads to liberation from worldly bondage ([[Moksha (Jainism)|Moksha]])

Umaswami categorizes the types of knowledge to be empirical, attained through one's sense of perception. He adds that knowledge is also acquired through literature, clairvoyance, and omniscience.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=12-15}} In chapter 2, Umaswati presents sutras on soul. He asserts that soul is distinguished by suppression of deluding karma, or elimination of eight types of karmas, or partial presence of destructive karmas, or arising of eight types of new karmas, or those that are innate to the soul, or a combination of these.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=33-62}} In chapter 3 through 6, Umaswati presents sutras for his first three categories of truth.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=7-168}}

===Ethics===
{{Main|Ethics in Jainism}}
In chapter 7, Umaswati presents the Jaina vows and explains their value in stopping karmic particle inflow to the soul. The vows, with their respective translations by Nathmal Tatia, are
:*''[[Ahimsa in Jainism|ahimsa]]'' (abstinence from violence)
:* ''[[Satya|anirta]]'' (abstinence from falsehood)
:* ''[[asteya]]'' (abstinence from stealing)
:* ''[[brahmacharya]]'' (abstinence from carnality), and
:* ''[[aparigraha]]'' (abstinence from possessiveness).{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=169-170}}

===Karma and rebirths===
{{Main|Karma in Jainism}}
Umaswati, in chapter 8 of ''Tattvartha Sutra'' presents his sutras on how [[karma]] affects rebirths. He asserts that accumulated karma in life determines the length of life and realm of rebirth for each soul in each of four states – infernal beings, plants and animals, human beings and as gods.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=195-199}}{{Sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=118-119}} Further, states Umaswati, karma also affects the body, the shape, the characteristics as well as the status of the soul within the same species, such as ''Ucchi'' (upper) or ''Nicchi'' (lower) status.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=195-199}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=118-119}} The accumulated and new karma are material particles, states Umaswati, which stick to the soul and these travel with the soul from one life to the next as bondage, where each ripens.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=200-203}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=121-124}} Once ripened, the karmic particles fall off, states Umaswati.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=200-203}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=121-124}}

===Shedding karma and liberation===
{{Main|Moksha (Jainism)}}
The chapter 9 of ''Tattvartha Sutra'' states how karmic particles can be stopped from attaching to the soul and how these can be shed.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=213-248}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=126-145}} Umaswati asserts that ''gupti'' (curbing activity), ''[[dharma]]'' (virtues such as forbearance, modesty, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint, austerity, renunciation), contemplation, endurance in hardship (he lists twenty two hardships including hunger, thirst, cold, heat, nakedness, injury, lack of gain, illness, praise, disrespect), and with good character towards others (he lists five – equanimity, reinitiation, non-injury ([[Ahimsa]]), slight passion and fair conduct), a soul stops karmic accumulations.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=126-145}} External austerities such as fasting, reduced diet and isolated habitation, along with internal austerities such as expiation, reverence, service, renunciation and meditation, according to Umaswati, along with respectful service to teachers and ailing ascetics help shed karma.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=126-145}}

The state of liberation is presented in Chapter 10 by Umaswati.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=250-263}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=146-151}} It is achieved when deluding and obstructive karmas have been destroyed.{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=250-263}}{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=146-151}} This leads to the state of quietism and potentiality, and the soul then moves to the end of the universe, states Umaswati.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=146-151}}

==Importance==
The Tattvartha Sutra is regarded as one of the earliest, most authoritative book on [[Jainism]], and the only text authoritative in both the [[Digambara]] and [[Śvētāmbara]] sects,{{sfn|Cort|2001|p=16-17}} and its importance in Jainism is comparable with that of the [[Brahma Sutras]] and [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]] in [[Hinduism]].<ref>[[#Ji|Jaini, p. 81]]</ref>{{Sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|pp=439-440}}

== Commentaries and Translations ==

=== Commentaries ===
The Tattvartha Sutra has the largest number of Jaina [[bhashya]]s or commentaries in different Indian languages from the fifth century onward. There are over twenty five commentaries and translations of ''Tattvartha Sutra''.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=48}}

The most famous and oldest commentary on the ''Tattvārthasūtra'' is ''[[Sarvārthasiddhi]]'' of ''Ācārya [[Pujyapada]]''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnxjAAAAMAAJ|title=Prolegomena to Prakritica et Jainica|author1=Banerjee|first1=Satya Ranjan|year=2005|p=151}}</ref>{{sfn|S.A. Jain|1992|p=}} (sixth century CE). ''Sarvārthasiddhi'' along with [[Akalanka]]'s c. 780 CE ''Rajavartika'' and Vijayananda's ''Slokavarttika'' (9th century) form the central texts of Digambara monastic students.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|p=82}}

===Translations===
The text is in ''sutra'' form. The word ''Sutra'' ([[Sanskrit]]: सूत्र) means "string, thread".<ref name=winternitz249>M Winternitz (2010 Reprint), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120802643}}, pages 249</ref> The root of the word is ''siv'', that which sews and holds things together.<ref name=monierwilliamssutra>Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1200/mw__1274.html ''Sutra''], page 1241</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=MacGregor|first=Geddes|title=Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofreli00macg|url-access=registration|year=1989|publisher=Paragon House|location=New York|isbn=1557780196|edition=1st}}</ref> In the context of Indian literature, ''Sutra'' means a distilled collection of syllables and words, any form or manual of "aphorism, rule, direction" hanging together like threads with which the "teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar or any field of knowledge" can be woven.<ref name=monierwilliamssutra/><ref name=winternitz249/>

The distilled nature of sutra texts leave them open to varying interpretations. The Tattvartha sutra have been variously translated. The first verse of ''Tattvartha Sutra'' has been translated as follows, for example:

{{Quote|
<poem>
"The enlightened [[Darśana|darsana]] (world view), enlightened knowledge and enlightened conduct are the path to liberation" – Translated by Nathmal Tatia{{sfn|Umāsvāti|1994|pp=5-6}}

"Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct constitute the path to liberation" – Translated by Vijay Jain{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2011|p=2}}
</poem>
|Umaswati, ''Tattvartha Sutra'' 1.1}}

The text has been translated into many languages including English and German, latest being English translation in 1993.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=48}}

==See also==
{{commonscat}}
*[[Samayasāra]]
*[[Jain literature]]
*[[Tattva (Jainism)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{citation |last=Cort |first=John E. |author-link=John E. Cort |title=Jains in the World : Religious Values and Ideology in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PZk-4HOMzsoC |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2001 |isbn=0-19-513234-3 }}
* {{citation |editor-last=Dasti |editor-first=Matthew R. |editor-link=Matthew R. Dasti |editor-last2=Bryant |editor-first2=Edwin F. |editor-link2=Edwin Bryant (author) |title=Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iso8BAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-992274-1 }}
* {{citation |last=Dundas |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Dundas |title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |edition=Second |date=2002 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-415-26605-X |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] }}
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Prof. S.A. |author-link=S.A. Jain |title=Reality (English Translation of Srimat Pujyapadacharya's Sarvarthasiddhi) |date=1992 |orig-year=First edition 1960 |publisher=Jwalamalini Trust |url=https://archive.org/details/Reality_JMT |edition=Second |quote={{PD-notice}} |ref={{sfnref|S.A. Jain|1992}} }}
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Vijay K. |author-link=Vijay K. Jain |title=Acharya Umasvami's Tattvarthsutra |date=2011 |publisher=[[Vikalp Printers]] |location=[[Uttarakhand]] |isbn=81-903639-2-1 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLmx9bvtglkC |quote={{PD-notice}} |ref={{sfnref|Vijay K. Jain|2011}} }}
* {{citation |last=Jaini |first=Padmanabh S. |author-link=Padmanabh Jaini |title=The Jaina Path of Purification |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wE6v6ahxHi8C |date=1998 |orig-year=1979 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=[[Delhi]] |isbn=81-208-1578-5 }}
* {{citation |last=Jones | first=Constance | last2 =Ryan | first2 =James D. | year =2007 | title =Encyclopedia of Hinduism | publisher =Infobase Publishing | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC | isbn= 978-0816054589}}
* {{citation |editor-last=Oldmeadow |editor-first=Harry |editor-link=Harry Oldmeadow |title=Light from the East: Eastern Wisdom for the Modern West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfIKWYrGjVgC |publisher=World Wisodm |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-933316-22-2 }}
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Natubhai |author-link=Natubhai Shah |title=Jainism: The World of Conquerors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLNQKGcDIhsC |volume=I |date=2004 |orig-year=First published in 1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-1938-1 |ref={{sfnref|Natubhai Shah|2004}} }}
*{{citation |last=Umāsvāti |first= Umaswami |title=That which is (Translator: Nathmal Tatia) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rw4RwN9Q1kC |year=1994 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-06-068985-8}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book|last1=Umāsvāti|last2=Devanandī|last3=Siddhasenagaṇi|editor=Nathmal Tatia|title=That which is: Tattvārtha Sūtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rw4RwN9Q1kC|access-date=27 December 2012|year=1994|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-06-068985-8}}

== External links ==
*[http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/1790/ Tattvarthasutra, with Hindi and English translation on crossasia repository]
*[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/article/tattvarth.htm Selections from the sutra on harvard.edu]
*[https://archive.org/details/Tattvarthsutra Tattvarthsutra (English) on archive.org]

{{Jain Agamas}}
{{Jainism topics}}

[[Category:Ancient Indian literature]]
[[Category:Atomism]]
[[Category:Epistemology of religion]]
[[Category:Metaphysics of religion]]
[[Category:Jain texts]]
[[Category:Jain ethics]]

Tattvartha Sutra - Revision history

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