Vācaka Varya Umaswati | |
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 Image of Umaswati | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1st to 5th century Nyagrodhika |
| Died | 2nd to 5th century |
| Parents |
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| Notable work(s) | Tattvartha Sutra, Tattvarthabhāṣya |
| Honours | Pūrvadhāri |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Lineage | Uchchairnāgar Gaccha[1] |
| Sect | Śvetāmbara |
| Religious career | |
| Teacher | Ghoṣanandi |
| Part ofa series on |
| Jainism |
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Vācaka Umaswati, also spelled asVācaka Umasvati and known asVācaka Umaswami, was an Indian scholar, possibly between 2nd-century and 5th-century CE, known for his foundational writings onJainism.[2][3] He authored theJain textTattvartha Sutra (literally '"All That Is", also calledTattvarthadhigama Sutra).[4] According to historianMoriz Winternitz, Umaswati may have been a Śvetāmbara ascetic as his views correspond more with theŚvetāmbara sect than with the Digambara sect, and that the latter is 'hardly entitled to claim him.'[5] Umaswati's work was the firstSanskrit language text onJain philosophy, and is the earliest extant comprehensive Jain philosophy text accepted as authoritative by all four Jain traditions.[6][7][8] His text has the same importance in Jainism asVedanta Sutras andYogasutras have inHinduism.[3][6]
Umaswati is claimed by both theDigambara andŚvētāmbara sects of Jainism as their own.[9][6] However, several Jaina scholars consider him to be a Śvetāmbara ascetic.[10][11] On the basis of hisgenealogy, he was also calledNagaravachka. Umaswati was influential not only in Jainism, but also other Indian traditions over the centuries. The 13th- to 14th-centuryMadhvacharya, founder ofDvaita Vedanta school ofHindu philosophy, for example referred to Umaswati in his works asUmasvati-Vachakacharya.[12] Some in the Digambara Jain tradition believe him to be the chief disciple of AcharyaKundakunda.[2][13] However, this is disputed by several Indian as well as Western scholars.[14] According to Ramesh Chandra Gupta, aDigambara scholar, Śvetāmbaras' version ofUmaswati's biography is accepted over their Digambara counterparts.[15]
Umaswati, was anUpadhyaya and therefore one of thePañca-Parameṣṭhi (five supreme beings) in Jaina tradition. The theory mooted by Umaswati is that rebirth and suffering is on account of one'skarma (deeds) and a life lived in accordance tovows of virtuous living with austerities cleanses thiskarma, ultimately leading to liberation.[16][17] The main philosophy in Umaswati'sTatvartha Sutra aphorisms is that "all life, both human and non-human, is sacred."[18]
Umaswati was born in Nyagrodhika village. His father was Svati and his mother was Uma.[12] Umaswati was thus called asSvatitanaya after his father's name and asVatsisuta after his mother's lineage. His name is a combination of the names of his parents.[12] Umaswati is also known asVacaka-sramana andNagaravacaka.[12]Digambaras call himUmasvamin.[19] He is said to have had been initiated into theUchchairnagar Gaccha of theŚvetāmbara sect by a monk named Ghoshanandi.[20]
According to Vidyabhusana's book published in 1920, Umaswati died in 85 CE. More recent scholarship, such as byPadmanabh Jaini on the other hand, places him later, likely in the 2nd-century.[21][3] Modern scholars such as Walter Slaje state that there are disagreements in dating Umaswati, and even whether Umaswati and Umaswami were two different persons, who lived sometime between 2nd- to 5th-century CE.[22]Paul Dundas agrees thatTattvartha Sutra is among the oldest surviving Jaina philosophy text along withBhagavati Sutra and the olderRsibhasitani, but dates Umaswati and the text to the 4th- to 5th-century.[8]
Umaswati authored his scriptural work theTattvartha Sutra when he was inPataliputra or Kusumapura (now known asPatna,Bihar).[12][23] He was the first Jain thinker to have written a philosophical work in thesutra style.[24]
In Digambara tradition that reveres Kundakunda, Umaswati is considered as a disciple of Kundakunda.[13] However, they differ in two ways. One, Kundakunda wrote in Prakrit, while Umaswati used Sanskrit.[25] Second, their doctrines differ in the details, such as those aboutanekantavada.[26] Neither mentions the other in his writings, and scholars have debated if there was any link between the two, and who preceded the other.[14][27][28]
Umaswati in hisTattvartha Sutra, an aphoristicsutra text inSanskrit language, enunciates the completeJain philosophy.[23][29] He includes the doctrines on the subjects ofnon-violence orahimsa,Anekantavada (simultaneous existence and non-existence of something), and non-possession. The text, states Jaini, summarizes "religious, ethical and philosophical" themes ofJainism in the second century India.[30] TheSūtras or verses have found ready acceptance with all the sects of Jainas, and on whichbhasya (reviews and commentaries) have been written. Umaswati states that these beliefs are essential to achievingmoksha or emancipation.[3]
His sutra have been variously translated. The first verse ofTattvartha Sutra has been translated as follows:
"The enlighteneddarsana (world view), enlightened knowledge and enlightened conduct are the path to liberation" – Translated by Nathmal Tatia[31]
"Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct constitute the path to liberation" – Translated by Vijay Jain[32]— Umaswati,Tattvartha Sutra 1.1
The core theology of Umaswati inTattvartha Sutra presents seven categories of truth in sutra 1.4:[33]
Umaswati categorizes the types of knowledge to beempirical, attained through one'ssense of perception; articulation that which is acquired through literature;clairvoyance is perception of things outside the natural reach of senses;mind reading; andomniscience.[34] 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.[35] In chapter 3 through 6, Umaswati presents sutras for his first three categories of truth.[36]
In chapter 7, Umaswati presents the Jaina vows and explains their value in stopping karmic particle inflow to the soul. The vows, translates Nathmal Tatia, areahimsa (abstinence from violence),anirta (abstinence from falsehood),asteya (abstinence from stealing),brahmacharya (abstinence from carnality), andaparigraha (abstinence from possessiveness).[37]
Umaswati, in chapter 8 ofTattvartha Sutra presents his sutras on howkarma affects rebirths. He asserts that accumulated karma in life determine 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.[38][39] 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 asUcchi (upper) orNicchi (lower) status.[38][39] 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.[40][41] Once ripened, the karmic particles fall off, states Umaswati.[40][41]
The chapter 9 ofTattvartha Sutra by Umaswati describe how karmic particles can be stopped from attaching to the soul and how these can be shed.[42][43] He asserts thatgupti (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.[43] External austerities such as fasting, reduced diet and isolated habitation, while 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.[43]
The state of liberation is presented in Chapter 10 by Umaswati.[44][45] It is achieved when deluding and obstructive karmas have been destroyed.[44][45] This leads to the state of quietism and potentiality, and the soul then moves to the end of the universe, states Umaswati.[45]
TheTattvartha Sutra has been the most important work of Umaswati. However, this text exists in at least two overlapping versions. The Svetambara version and the Digambara versions differ, for example, in sutras 1.33 and 1.34, with the Svetambara version listing fivenayas and the Digambara version listing seven.[46] However, the Śvetāmbara version is considered to be older as compared to its Digambara counterpart, owing to an earlier belief about the classification of animals based on senses. Tholkappiyam, an ancient non-Jaina Tamil text classifies animals the same way as the Śvetāmbara version of Tattvartha Sutra does. This observation is markedly different from the beliefs of the Digambara sect as well as the classification stated inPuranas andUpanishads. It also suggests that Umaswati may have been a Śvetāmbara ascetic and that the southern region of India was once also dominated by Śvetāmbaras.[47]
Along withTattvartha Sutra, he also wrotePrasamarati, a guide for the aspirant on the path of peace and liberation from karmic bondage.[23] Other texts attributed to Umaswati, but lost over time areJambūdvīpasamāsa,Śaucaprakaraṇa,Śrāvakaprajñapti,Dānaprakaraṇa, andDharmaprakaraṇa among severalŚvetāmbara texts authored by him.[48]
Umaswati was an influential, authoritative scholar in Indian history, particularly within Jainism.[49] HisTattvartha Sutra has been a key and the oldest surviving text in Jainism, was accepted and widely studied in all four Jaina traditions (Svetambara, Digambara, Sthanakvasi and Terapantha).[50] HisTattvartha Sutra, also calledDasasutri, was commented on by numerous Jaina scholars in the centuries that followed,[51][52][53] for instance the 8th[54] or 10th century Digambar acharyaVidyananda.[55][56]
Umaswati's textTattvartha Sutra was composed in Sanskrit, making it, according to Johnson, the earliest extant Sanskrit language literature related to Jainism.[57] His text was cherished not only by the Jaina traditions, but widely distributed and preserved by theHindus for centuries. The Hindu theistic scholar Madhvacharya praised Umaswati's ideas in the 13th-century, calling him Umasvati Vachakacharya (literally "expressive teacher"), as Madhvacharya developed his sub-school ofdualism.[58]
Quote: Thus, there is a vast literature available but it seems thatTattvartha Sutra of Umasvati can be regarded as the main philosophical text of the religion and is recognized as authoritative by all Jains."
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