Tattvarth Sutra Ka Mahattva

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Tattvarth Sutra ka Mahattva" by Bansidhar Pandit, based on the provided pages:

The text emphasizes the immense and universally recognized importance of the Tattvarth Sutra within both the Shvetambara and Digambara Jain traditions. This significance is evidenced by the fact that scholars from both sects have written commentaries on it, considering it a great fortune. The Sutra's importance is deeply ingrained in the minds of ordinary people, so much so that even unlettered women in the Digambara community feel blessed by hearing its verses recited. During the Paryushan festival, communal worship of the Tattvarth Sutra is a common practice, with men and women participating in its recitation with great devotion. The text suggests that the disagreement among Jain sects regarding the authorship of the Tattvarth Sutra likely stems from its profound importance.

The central reason for the Tattvarth Sutra's significance, according to the author, is its masterful inclusion of the entirety of Jain culture within its framework.

The author then delves into the concept of culture and its purpose, stating that all cultures aim to make human life happy. However, Jain culture goes beyond this, also aiming for self-welfare or liberation (moksha). Jain culture is thus constructed with the dual purpose of societal well-being and individual spiritual liberation.

The text further explores the spiritual and material aspects of cultures. It posits that all cultures can be considered spiritual because they aim to provide happiness in worldly life. Even cultures that don't accept the existence of a soul, like the Charvakas, still guide people towards happiness by providing a life system. The management of happiness and the alleviation of suffering are seen as the basis for considering a culture spiritual. Even material development, when aimed at benefiting worldly life, is not separate from spirituality.

A distinction between spiritual and material aspects can be understood by considering the objective of the activity:

• Spiritual: Activities that aim for the worldly or spiritual benefit of the soul.
• Material: Activities that are pursued without such a specific benefit in mind, or are simply objective descriptions.

The author clarifies that even if a lack of knowledge hinders the achievement of the intended benefit, the activity remains spiritual as long as the intention is present.

A second perspective on the distinction is presented: cultures that accept the soul and provide a path for its welfare are spiritual, while those that do not are material. The author finds no disagreement with this perspective, seeing it as a matter of differing viewpoints.

A third perspective defines the spiritual aspect of a culture as that which relates to the gains and losses of the soul or the world, and the material aspect as that which focuses solely on the state of affairs without regard to personal gain. In this view, science, which illuminates the nature of things, is seen as material, as it doesn't concern itself with the benefit or harm to the soul or the world. However, the author also notes that fictional representations, like cinema or novels, while not real, can still impact people's minds and provide valuable lessons, highlighting that their "unreality" is irrelevant if they offer good teaching. The glimpses of divine creation found in some Jain texts are attributed to this perspective, whereas the rejection of theistic creationism in Jain philosophical texts is due to its inability to withstand scientific scrutiny. Similarly, in Jainism, a person with right perception is considered knowledgeable, even if they are scientifically unaware of their true state (e.g., being ignorant up to the twelfth stage of spiritual development).

Based on this third perspective, Jain culture can be divided into spiritual and material components.

In addition to these, Jain culture, like all cultures, also has a third component: conduct or duty. Therefore, Jain culture can be broadly categorized into these three parts. These correspond to the Anuyogas (branches of Jain scriptures):

• Karananuyoga: Deals with spiritual subjects.
• Dravyanuyoga: Deals with material subjects.
• Charananuyoga: Deals with conduct or duty.

The Tattvarth Sutra is primarily considered a text of Karananuyoga (spiritual) because its content is focused on the welfare of the soul. However, the author notes that specific chapters also incorporate elements of Dravyanuyoga (material) and Charananuyoga (conduct/duty):

• Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 primarily adopt a spiritual perspective.
• Chapter 5 uses a material perspective.
• Chapters 7 and 9 particularly offer advice on conduct or duty.

The spiritual nature of the Tattvarth Sutra is evident from its opening sutra: "Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct are the path to liberation." It then defines right faith as faith in tattvas (principles) and identifies seven tattvas: Jiva (soul), Ajiva (non-soul), Asrava (influx of karma), Bandha (bondage), Samvara (cessation of influx), Nirjara (shedding of karma), and Moksha (liberation). The subsequent chapters systematically elaborate on these tattvas.

The text explains two ways of understanding reality in Jain scriptures: as Dravyas (substances) and as Tattvas (principles).

• From a material perspective, focusing on factual existence, reality is understood through the six Dravyas: Jiva, Pudgala (matter), Dharma (medium of motion), Adharma (medium of rest), Akasha (space), and Kala (time). This addresses the question, "What is the universe?" – it is the aggregate of these six dravyas.
• From an spiritual perspective, focused on self-welfare, reality is understood through the seven Tattvas. This addresses the questions related to one's spiritual journey, such as "Who am I?", "Am I bound?", "By what?", "What causes this bondage?", "How can these causes be removed?", "How can present bondage be removed?", and "What is liberation?". The solutions to these questions involve the seven tattvas.

The text clarifies that material perspective deals with the existence, nature, and classifications of objects, while spiritual perspective focuses on the fall and causes of the soul's downfall, as well as its upliftment and the causes of upliftment. In Jainism, the "form" or "figure" of an object is its dravya, and the universe is composed of infinite dravyas. However, these are categorized into six main dravyas based on their properties and transformations.

The seven Tattvas, conversely, are considered essential for self-welfare. The author refutes the idea that only the discussion of the soul is spiritual and the discussion of other elements is material. Instead, discussions of the soul's existence and nature are also considered material if they don't aim for welfare, while discussions of non-soul elements that do aim for self-welfare are spiritual. Jainism labels the spiritual aspect as Karananuyoga and the material aspect as Dravyanuyoga.

Therefore, while the Tattvarth Sutra is predominantly spiritual (Karananuyoga), its chapters also bear the imprint of material (Dravyanuyoga) and conduct-oriented (Charananuyoga) aspects.

The text briefly lists some of the key topics discussed in the Tattvarth Sutra, including right faith, knowledge, and conduct, their role in the path to liberation, the nature of the tattvas, the reasons for there being only seven tattvas, principles of proof (pramana) and perspective (naya), the concepts of name, establishment, substance, and state, the role of place, time, and state, the soul's dependent and independent states, the inclusion of all worldly substances in the six dravyas, the scientific nature of each dravya, the existence and nature of dharma and adharma dravyas, the oneness and pervasiveness of space, the atomic and manifold nature of time, the reasons for the soul's dependent and independent states, karma, and liberation. The author notes that elaborating on all these would turn the article into a large book, so it's sufficient to state that the Tattvarth Sutra systematically weaves together the entire fabric of Jain culture in the form of concise sutras. The author praises the author of the Tattvarth Sutra for achieving this feat of condensing complex subjects without repetition.

The concluding remarks highlight that the world is a puzzle, and the suffering in life presents a significant challenge for those seeking self-improvement and liberation. Jain culture, through texts like the Tattvarth Sutra, is capable of addressing these issues. However, the author laments that despite studying these texts, personal knowledge and life development are not progressing as they should, urging scholars to focus on this issue to find solutions.