Uttaradhyayana Sutra

by Hermann Jacobi

The Uttaradhyayana Sutra is the most prominent scripture of the Jain tradition. It is commonly believed by Jains to be the final sermon of Bhagavan Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara. “Its intention,” explains Hermann, “is to instruct a young monk in his principal duties, to commend an ascetic life by precepts and examples, [and] to warn him against the dangers in his spiritual career.” Or, as another translator has aptly observed, it is “a coordinated scripture of behavioral and spiritual life,” and is as the very Sun of Jainism. As the Bhagavad-Gita stands in the Vedanta tradition, or as the Dhammapada stands in Buddhism, so does the Uttaradhyayana Sutra stand in Jainism.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 22, 2015

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is SUPERB! It is a wonderful religious work. It is written in a similar nature to the Bible: it has various "lectures" on a myriad of topics in the same way the Bible has various "books" containing different themes. However, it is far shorter than the Bible. The version I read is only about 200 pages, with fairly large type. In the Uttaradhyayana Sutra, the lectures range from every manner of parable, to lists of rules and beliefs for laypeople and Jain monks, to a lecture about metaphysics of souls. Jacobi writes a crisp translation from the original Prakrit. If you have any interest in Jainism or comparative religion whatsoever, this is 100% worth your time.