Acarya Umasvati''s Tattvarthasutra

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My story began several years ago, in India. I studied the basics of the Jain religion at the feet of my gurus, Pandit Daya Chandra Shastri at Mungaoli and Ujjain, and Pandit Kailash Chandra Siddhantacharya at Syaandvaad Jain Vidyalaya, Varanasi. At Syaadvaad Jain Vidyalaya, I studied SARVARTHASIDDHI, which is Acharya Pujyapad's commentary on the TATIVARTHASUTRA. 1 frequently attended discourses based on various scriptures and had numerous discussions with scholars, especially, Pandit Phool Chandra Siddhantacharya, when he was writing his celebrated commentary on the TATTVARTHASUTRA. I enjoyed this exposure to the basics of Jainism. It had a significant influence on my life.

When I moved to the United States, I wanted my sons, Avanindra and Ahamindra, to have a similar exposure to the rational concepts of the Jain religion. Charity begins at home. Thus my prime focus was my sons and my nieces, Rashmi, Ranjana and Ranita. However, I also intended to reach the sons and daughters of my friends and relatives as well as other Jain youngsters growing up in North America. With this end in view, the publication of the Jain Study Circular was started. For the past thirty years, the Circular has been presenting scriptural views of Jainism, within the framework of Indian religion and culture, conforming to common sense. and free from myths and legends. On one occasion, I said to my son Avanindra that Jainism teaches that all events in the universe follow the laws of nature and that there is no hand of any supreme being in the affairs of the world. Avanindra responded, "In that case, I would like to be your first disciple."

Avanindra, Ahamindra, Rashmi, Ranjana and Ranita along with numerous sons and daughters of my friends were greatly influenced by the rational concepts of the Jain religion included in the Circular. In his article, 'What I Like About Jainism', Ahamindra wrote, "I do not think that Jainism says that we should accede to all the old ideas. On the other hand, I think that we are allowed to make our own rational decisions, based on what is correct morally and what we know about our world today. This does not mean that we should abjectly throw out all the old teachings; instead, we should try to learn about them and respect them just as we do any other religion's tenets, and then choose to follow those aspects which may be applicable to our lives individually."

Ahamindra wrote this article when he was an undergraduate student at MIT. Many youngsters as well as adults wrote similar highly perceptive articles that have been published in the Circular and in the series Studies In Jainism: Primer, Reader I and Reader 2. However, working on the Jain Study Circular has been a two-way street. I too gained a deeper insight into Jainism. A consequential idea that emerged is that Jainism promotes rationalism and so there is no room for 'faith' in Jainism. In plain words, it is not appropriate to equate 'samyak dar ana' with 'right faith'. The present text is an outcome of these experiences. It highlights numerous thought provoking concepts of Jainism that conform to the scriptures. Concepts not relevant to our practice of Jainism and those related to ritualism have been discounted. Many of the concepts presented in this commentary have been published in the Jain Study Circular.

Acarya Umasvati's TATTVARTHASUTRA contains a concise but comprehensive account of the aspects of reality. It deals with the six entities of the universe and their interactions, which are responsible for all natural phenomena, especially those relating to the worldly souls. Thus it presents the sum and substance of the entire Jain scriptural knowledge. In this work, I have attempted to explain the fundamentals of Jainism in simple language without sacrificing any significant details. The ideas that are relevant to attaining happiness and peace of mind in the present context have been emphasized.

I am grateful to all my teachers, Pandit Daya Chandra Shastri, Pandit Kailash Chandra Siddhantacharya and Pandit Phool Chandra Siddhantacharya, in particular. I am deeply indebted to the editorial advisors of the Jain Study Circular for their valuable comments and suggestions, especially Manish Modi, Vinay K. Vakani, Ahamindra Jain, Rashmi Jain, Richa Jain, Sunita Jain and Dr. Chandrakant Shah, who edited the first draft of portions of this commentary. My son Ahamindra insisted on editing the April 2008 issue of the Jain Study Circular while undergoing cancer treatment. This book is dedicated to his memory for his devotion to the rational concepts of Jainism. I am greatly indebted to my parents, family, teachers and professors who instilled in me the thirst for knowledge and to Manish Modi and Dr. Chandrakant P. Shah for editing the text. Printing this book would have been impossible without the computer skills and dedication of Shreyans Sukhani, who helped us with Hindi typing, diacritics, page setting and indexing. My sincere gratitude to Shreyans. Finally, I appreciate the constant encouragement and support of my wife, Sunita.

This article, originally published in the Pandit Kailash Chandra Jain Siddhantacharya Abhinandan Granth in 1980, presents some basic concepts of the Jain philosophy in the light of modern scientific premises and theories. No attempt has been made to bring the ancient theories in line with modern science through forced, distant and misleading analogies.

Preamble:

Religion is the science of living, while science and technology are essential for sustaining life on earth. Thus religion and science are two sides of the same coin. The Sanskrit word for religion is DHARMA, which literally means attributes. Thus religion deals with the attributes of human life of soul and matter. Religion teaches us the way to lead a healthy, meaningful and fulfilling life. It tells us how to deal with our fellow men and with other living beings. Religion is supposed to bring out the best in human beings.

Science is the systematic and accurate knowledge of things and events that occur in nature. It is the study of matter and energy, plant and animal life, the utilization of natural resources without altering the delicate balance in nature, making human life better on earth without hurting the environment- the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Science and technology advance continually and thus life on earth keeps on changing, mostly for the better. Religion, being the science of living, is also supposed to change with time. In the present article, some features of Jainism are compared with modern science in light of the above ideas.

The Scientific Process and the Three Jewels of Jainism:

The scientific process consists of the following steps:

1. Making observations with an open mind without any bias.

2. Seeking a rational explanation of the observations and building a consistent theory.

3. performing further experiments to test and extrapolate the theory.

For centuries, science has advanced by way of the scientific process and the state of scientific knowledge is still progressing. A theory is upheld as long as it provides a rational explanation of experimental observations and fits the current structure of scientific knowledge. If any theory proves to be inadequate due to some changes in the state of scientific knowledge or in view of further experimentation, it is discarded and replaced by another theory. There is no room for dogma or preconceived notions in science.

The scientific process is similar to the three jewels of Jainism (ratnatraya). These are rational perception (samyak darsana), rational knowledge (SAMYAK jnana) and rational conduct (proper lifestyle, samyak caritra). Rational perception involves observing and studying the nature ofiving and non-living, without any bias or preconceived notion. However, this does not preclude the study of religion, philosophy and science. After careful observation and thought comes rational knowledge. This does not necessarily imply knowing and accepting what is written in the holy books or what is preached by a learned person. The third jewel in the life of a Jain is rational conduct adopting a proper lifestyle. This leads to the concept of nonviolence in Jainism, which involves living in harmony with fellow beings and with nature. It should be emphasized that rational conduct does not end with such religious activities as worship, prayers, chanting, attending sermons and study of scriptures. Indulging in these religious activities is undesirable if it is done with intent of show, pride, desire of material comforts in this life or in the after-life. Rational conduct involves being at peace with oneself and with one's sentient and insentient environment. In fact, one of the purposes of various religious activities is to learn and adopt a proper lifestyle. Just as schooling is for career development, similarly, prayers, worships, religious discourses and study of scriptures are for adopting rational conduct.

It should be emphasized that rational conduct entails minimizing violence of feelings of the self and of other living beings. Thus nonviolence is said to be the supreme religion. It brings peace and harmony in one's life and in society at large. Further, activities such as telling a lie, stealing, greed and materialism entail violence of self as well as of other living beings. Therefore, the practice of nonviolence requires being truthful, non-stealing and avoiding the acquisition of unnecessary materials. This is also good for the environment.

If ever a modern shravakacara (prescribed code of conduct for Jain laymen) was to be created, Dr. Duli Chandra Jain's life would be the perfect template. He was a man of principle and this was reflected in every aspect of his personal and professional life. He was scrupulously honest and humble in all his dealings with others.

Born in 1929, in the small village of Mungaoli, in Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Jain earned his Ph.D. in Physics before immigrating to the United States in 1965 with his wife and two sons, Avanindra and Ahamindra. At the time of his passing in February 2011, he was Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York, having retired recently at the age of 78.

Like all Indian parents, Dr. Jain and his wife, Sunita, endeavored to give their children the best of modern education along with Jain values. While teaching Jain concepts to his sons and nieces, Rashmi, Ranjana and Ranita, Dr. Jain began to realize the need to create study materials in English, free from sectarianism and ritualism, in order to inculcate Jain values in his children. The only Jain works available in English at the time were highly scholarly and inaccessible to children and teenagers. So Dr. Jain started writing articles on Jainism in English. These articles gradually took the form of the Jain Study Circular, which was circulated worldwide and at its peak reached 5000 families per issue. Dr. Jain remained true to his principles and did not publish advertisements in the Jain Study Circular.

Through the Jain Study Circular and through his various public discourses and Jain Study Circular meetings, which were often held at his home, Dr. Jain inculcated the virtues of rationalism and ethical behavior. He understood and appreciated the rational aspects of the Jain doctrine and made great efforts to disseminate the profound teachings of the Jinas.

Dr. Jain's translation of and English commentary on the Tattvarthasutra is a labour of love. He has presented a careful, well thought out translation and his commentary reflects his scientific and rational approach.

I have enjoyed a long friendship with him and his family, stretching over several decades. I am glad that this work is seeing the light of day. It is unfortunate that the book was not published while Dr. Jain was alive.

**Contents and Sample Pages**