Jin-vani
Plan · sutra · intermediate

Tattvartha Chapter 1 in 11 days

3 sutras a day · 11 days · 33 sutras total

The first chapter of Umaswami's Tattvartha Sutra establishes the path of liberation and the means of right knowledge. Three terse sutras a day for eleven days — slow enough to chew on each.

Primary text: Tattvartha Sutra · Chapter 1 by Acharya Umaswami

  1. Day 1

    The path of liberation

    Sutras 1–3: the famous opening — samyak darshana, jnana, charitra together are the path. Right faith, right knowledge, right conduct.

  2. Day 2

    Naya and pramana

    Sutras 4–6: how we know what we know. The seven tattvas are introduced as the objects of right faith.

  3. Day 3

    Means of knowing — pramana

    Sutras 7–9 begin the catalogue of how knowledge functions. Direct and indirect; the categories used to evaluate any cognitive claim.

  4. Day 4

    The five kinds of knowledge

    Sutras 10–12 — matijnana (sensory), shrutajnana (testimonial), avadhijnana (clairvoyant), manahparyaya (telepathic), kevalajnana (omniscient). The classical Jain epistemology.

  5. Day 5

    Sensory knowledge unpacked

    Sutras 13–15 zoom into matijnana — the four stages of sensory cognition and their many subdivisions.

  6. Day 6

    Subdivisions of matijnana

    Sutras 16–18 continue the detailed taxonomy of sensory knowledge.

  7. Day 7

    Shrutajnana and its limits

    Sutras 19–21: testimonial knowledge, its range, its dependencies. The kind of knowledge transmitted across generations of teachers.

  8. Day 8

    Avadhi — the clairvoyant

    Sutras 22–24: a kind of knowledge that perceives material objects beyond the senses. Sub-categorized into desha-avadhi (limited) and parama-avadhi (greater).

  9. Day 9

    Manahparyaya and kevala

    Sutras 25–27 introduce the rarer two: knowledge of others' minds, and the omniscience of a Kevalin.

  10. Day 10

    Right and wrong knowledge

    Sutras 28–30: how knowledge becomes mithya (wrong-faith-tainted) and when it remains samyak. Knowledge alone doesn't save — the orientation matters.

  11. Day 11

    Closing — naya

    Sutras 31–33: the seven nayas. Standpoints by which any object can be known. The chapter ends in the doctrinal core of anekantavada.

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