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"Samyag-darśana-jñāna-cāritrāṇi mokṣamārgaḥ" (1.1) — "Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct together constitute the path to liberation." "Parasparopagraho jīvānām" (5.21) — "Souls render service to one another."
The Tattvārtha Sūtra (also titled Tattvārthādhigama Sūtra or Mokṣa-Śāstra), composed by Ācārya Umāsvāti (known as Umāsvāmī in the Digambara lineage; c. 2nd–5th century CE), holds a unique status in Jain sacred literature: it is the first systematic Jain treatise composed in classical Sanskrit sūtra style (rather than Ardhamāgadhī or Śaurasenī Prakrit) and the only canonical text accepted as authoritative across all sects of Jainism — both Digambara and Śvetāmbara (Mūrtipūjaka, Sthānakavāsī, and Terāpanthī).
In 10 chapters (containing 344 sūtras in the Śvetāmbara recension and 357 sūtras in the Digambara recension), Umāsvāti distills the entire edifice of Jain epistemology (pramāṇa and naya), ontology (ṣaḍ-dravya), cosmology (triloka), karmic physics, monastic and lay ethics (mahāvrata and aṇuvrata), and final liberation (mokṣa).
| Chapter | Subject | Key Philosophical & Doctrinal Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Faith & Epistemology | Samyag-darśana & Jñāna | Opens with the Ratnatraya (Three Jewels, 1.1); introduces the Seven Tattvas (1.4: Jīva, Ajīva, Āsrava, Bandha, Saṁvara, Nirjarā, Mokṣa), the five kinds of knowledge (mati, śruta, avadhi, manaḥparyāya, kevala), and the seven viewpoints (sapta-naya). |
| 2. The Soul (Jīva) | Classification of Living Beings | Defines consciousness (upayoga) as the hallmark of the soul (2.8); classifies embodied souls from one-sensed (ekendriya — earth, water, fire, air, and plant-bodied beings) up to five-sensed rational beings (pañcendriya samanaska). |
| 3. The Lower & Middle Worlds | Adholoka & Madhyaloka | Maps the seven subterranean realms and the concentric island-continents and oceans centered on Jambūdvīpa and Mount Meru. |
| 4. The Celestial Beings | Devaloka | Classifies the four orders of celestial beings (Bhavanavāsī, Vyantara, Jyotiṣka, Vaimānika) and stresses that even gods must take human birth to attain liberation. |
| 5. Non-Living Substance (Ajīva) | Ontology & Atomic Physics | Defines the five non-living substances (Dharma [medium of motion], Adharma [medium of rest], Ākāśa [space], Pudgala [matter/atoms], and Kāla [time]), establishes Anekāntavāda via permanence-in-change (utpāda-vyaya-dhrauvya-yuktaṁ sat, 5.29–30), and declares Parasparopagraho jīvānām (5.21). |
| 6. Inflow of Karma (Āsrava) | Karmic Causation | Explains how vibrations of mind, speech, and body (yoga) draw subtle karmic matter into the soul, colored by passions (kaṣāya). |
| 7. The Five Vows (Vrata) | Ahiṁsā, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacarya, Aparigraha | Defines violence (hiṁsā) as the severance of vitalities out of passionate negligence (pramāda-yogāt prāṇa-vyaparopaṇaṁ hiṁsā, 7.13) and prescribes the four supportive meditations (maitrī, pramoda, kāruṇya, mādhyasthya, 7.11). |
| 8. Karmic Bondage (Bandha) | The Eight Types of Karma | Systematizes the four destructive (ghātiyā) and four non-destructive (aghātiyā) karmas according to nature (prakṛti), duration (sthiti), intensity (anubhāga), and mass (pradeśa). |
| 9. Stoppage & Shedding | Saṁvara & Nirjarā | Details the three guards (gupti), fivefold mindfulness (samiti), ten supreme virtues (daśa-dharma), twelve reflections (anuprekṣā), twenty-two endurances (parīṣaha-jaya), and twelvefold austerity (tapas). |
| 10. Liberation (Mokṣa) | Kevala-jñāna & Siddha-loka | Describes the destruction of deluding karma, the blazing forth of omniscient Kevala-jñāna, and the liberated soul's (Siddha) instantaneous upward ascent to the apex of the cosmos (Loka-agra). |
