________________
Umāsvāti on Omniscience
FUJINAGA SIN
All the students of Jainism must know that the Tattvārthasūtra is admitted as an authentic work by both the schools of Jainism, Śvetambara and Digambara. The importance of this work can be pointed out from two aspects: its having been influenced by the āgamic works, and its influence on the later Jaina works and philosophers. In his work, having collected materials from āgamas and having deeply thought over them, the author Umāsvāti arranged the Jaina views on many topics.
Very few topics in the work are originally from Umāsvāti. Later Jaina philosophers of both sects such as Pūjyapāda, Akalanka, Vidyānandin and Siddhasenagani developed the ideas of the author in the form of commentaries on it. Among the concepts dealt with in the Tattvārthasūtra, the topic of omni- science seems to be one of the most important. In this paper it
r it shall be argued how Umāsvāti discusses this matter. It is a well-known fact that there is a so called auto-commentary upon the Tattvārthasūtra. Its authorship is rather difficult to determine. The Svetambaras admit that it was written by the author of the Tattvārthasūtra, i.e. Umāsvāti, while the opposite sect of Digambaras denies it. Tentatively it shall be taken just as one of the commentaries.
