Digambara Canon · Kundkundacharya

Samaysaar समयसार

The Essence of the Self. Composed approximately 2,000 years ago by Bhagwan Kundkundacharya Dev, the Samaysaar is regarded as the supreme philosophical text of the Digambara Jain tradition. In 415 gathas across 10 sections, it establishes with absolute precision that the soul is inherently pure consciousness — and that liberation consists not in becoming something new, but in recognizing what was always there.

Author

Kundkundacharya Dev

~2,000 years ago

Commentary

Amritchandra Suri

Atmakhyati Tika

Translated By

Dishant Shah

Structure

415 Gathas · 10 Sections

Preliminary Section

The Prologue

Prologue arrow_outward

The Prologue

38 gathas establishing the nature of samaya, the two states of the soul, oneness, and the relationship between conventional and ultimate truth.

Main Text — Ten Sections

The 10 Sections

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Soul and Non-Soul

The Soul and Non-Soul. The foundational distinction between consciousness and matter — what the soul is and what it is not.

Gathas 39–68 · All 30 Gathas

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The Doer and the Deed

The Doer and the Deed. Is the soul the doer of karma? The revolutionary answer that overturns both determinism and free-will absolutism.

Gathas 69–144 · All 76 Gathas

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Merit and Sin

Merit and Sin. Both are forms of bondage. Even "good" karma keeps the soul in the cycle. True liberation transcends both.

Gathas 145–163 · All 19 Gathas

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Karma Influx

Influx of Karma. How karma enters the soul — the mechanism of bondage at its most granular level.

Gathas 164–180 · All 17 Gathas

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Karma Stoppage

Stoppage of Karma. How to halt the inflow — the first active step toward liberation.

Gathas 181–192 · All 12 Gathas

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Karma Shedding

Shedding of Karma. The active dissolution of accumulated karma through austerity, knowledge, and self-realization.

Gathas 193–236 · All 44 Gathas

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Bondage

Bondage. What binds the soul to the cycle of birth and death — the mechanics of karma's grip.

Gathas 237–287 · All 51 Gathas

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Liberation

Liberation. The final destination — what it is, how it is attained, and why it is the soul's natural state.

Gathas 288–307 · All 20 Gathas

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All-Pure Knowledge

All-Pure Knowledge. The culmination — omniscient knowledge as the soul's inherent nature, not an external acquisition.

Gathas 308–415 · All 108 Gathas

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The Conclusion

The conclusion — Amṛtacandra's Pariśiṣṭam: jñānamātra, 47 śaktis, upāya-upeya, and the colophon where the commentator dissolves into the ātmā.

Kalaśas 247–278 · Complete