INTRODUCTION.

The Essence of the Rule original: Niyamsāra is one of the most renowned spiritual original: Adhyatmic works of the venerable teacher Shri Kund Kunda Ācharya. He was the preceptor of Shri Uma Swami, the renowned author of the Manual for Understanding the Reality of Truths original: Shri Tatwartha Dhigama Sūtra.

The Sanskrit commentary of The Essence of the Rule was written by Shri Padma Prabha Maldhari Deva, who appears to have lived about 1000 A.D. He was preceded by the teacher Shri Amrit Chandra Acharya, who wrote Sanskrit commentaries on the Five Extensive Realities original: Panchastikaya, the Essence of the Doctrine original: Pravachansara, and the Essence of the Self original: Samayasara—the great monumental works on Jain metaphysics by Shri Kund Kunda Acharya. Padma Prabha has frequently quoted and referred to some of the verses of Amrit Chandra in his commentary on The Essence of the Rule.

In 1912, a lucid commentary with learned explanatory notes was written in Hindi by the "Ornament of the Jain Religion" original: Jaina Dharma Bhushan, the celibate scholar Brahmachari Sital Prasadaji. No other commentary in Hindi is available.

In 1928, the said Brahmachariji, at the request of the local Jains, passed the rainy season This refers to the "Chaturmas," a four-month period where Jain monks and scholars stay in one place to avoid harming life forms that flourish in the rains at Rohtak and stayed there from the 30th of June to the 12th of November. It was through his kind persuasion and encouragement that the English translation of this work was undertaken and finished by me. The translation and commentaries were written under the direct and immediate supervision of Brahmachariji.

The treatise is named The Essence of the Rule original: Niyamsāra because it deals with the path of liberation, which is Right Belief, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct—the "three jewels" of faith combined. The word Niyama literally means "rule" or "law," and Sāra means "the essential" or "the right." The Essence of the Rule thus signifies the Right Rule; that is, the true and indispensable law for the attainment of liberation.

The sole object and the whole gist of this treatise is to show that the all-pure, all-conscious, all-blissful, and self-absorbed soul alone is the Siddha a perfected, liberated soul that has achieved its ultimate state, a perfect soul. If a soul is in bondage with karmic matter in Jainism, karma is considered a subtle form of physical matter that attaches to the soul through actions and passions—that is, if it has any connection, whatsoever, with the Non-Soul—it is imperfect, and under delusion. It is imperfection or