Lord Mahavira Vol 01

Author(s): S C Rampuria
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati Institute
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/023276/1

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Lord Mahavira Vol. -I Editor S.C. Rampuria. B.Com, LL.B. nAmajanamata THEHE ITTISROtter SEKS EKIDS KUN Lord Mahavira Namo arihaMtANaM, Namo siddhArA, Namo AyariyAmAM, Namo uvamAyAyAM, NamologasavvasAhUyAM, rAso paMca nnmokkaaro,sbvpaavssynnaasnno| maMgalANaMca sabvesi, paDarma hvdd'mNglN|| JAIN VISHVA BHARATI INSTITUTE - LADNUN (RAJASTHAN), INDIA

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LORD MAHAVIRA Vol. I

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Lord Mahavira Vol. I Editor S.C. Rampuria. B.COM, L L. B. gANassa Tenement JAIN VISHVA BHARATI INSTITUTE LADNUN (RAJASTHAN), INDIA

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Published By: JAIN VISHVA BHARATI INSTITUTE (Deemed University) LADNUN-341306 (Rajasthan) INDIA Phone : 22110,22230 (c) JAIN VISHVA BHARATI INSTITUTE First Edition : 6th April, 2001 (2600th Birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira) Price : Rs. 1000/ Three Volume Set Printed by: Unison Techno Financial Consultants Pvt. Ltd. 522, F.I.E. Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi-110092 Phone : 2169633

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Preface Towards the end of the 4th century B.C. an ambitious young man, prince Alexander of Macedonia, was bent on conquering the world by crushing his enemies to defeat by using brute force and lethal weapons. Nearly two centuries before that, an Indian prince, Siddhartha of Kapilavastu, renounced princely comforts and preached the message of love and non-violence. At about the same time, may be a little earlier, Lord Mahavira came on the scene to propound the religion of Jainism which was based on the pillars of non-violence (ahimsa), steadfast commitment to truth (satya), control of gross physical impulses (brahmacharya) and rising above greed and the desire to possess (aparigraha). Commitment to these noble human values made Jainism a truly humanistic religion and inculcated the spirit of respect for and tolerance of other views among its followers. Rabindranath Tagore in one of his poems described this strife-torn world of to-day as a world simmering with the spirit of insane violence (himsaya unmatta prithvi). It hardly needs to be told that in today violence-prone intolerant world, the message of Mahavira is gaining more relevance everyday. It is, therefore, most gratifying to see that the Jain Visvabharati Institute at Ladnun, Rajasthan, has taken steps to collect, compile, edit and publish the writings of various eminent scholars in the field on the life and teachings of Lord Mahavira, in three volumes under the able editorship of Shri S.C. Rampuria, the present chancellor (Kuladhipati) of Jain Visvabharati and an astute scholar himself. It is also a fitting occasion to bring these volumes out during the 2600th Birth Centenary celebration of Lord Mahavira. Editing any worthy publication is a stupendous responsibility, but it becomes enormously difficult when it come's to collecting and putting together the contributions of so many luminaries in the field from both inside India and out. Unfortunately a number of dedicated and competent scholars, (like Acharya Tulsi, Hermann Jacobi, K.C. Lalwani, K.V. Mardia, B.C. Law,

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Ganesh Lalwani, N.M. Tatia, G A.B. Keith, D.S. Kothari, to name a few) whose writings have been incorporated in these volumes, are no longer with us. We can only express our gratitude and indebtedness to all of them. In this highly commercialised world of to-day everything can be paid for in cash and all obligations cease to exist after the price is paid. However, in matters academic, a different norm prevails. The products of a scholar's thinking, as mirrored in his writings, are not mere commodities with a price-tag-they are the priceless treasures to be adored by the humankind in general. No words of thank can, therefore, be adequate to express our deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to all those who have kindly contributed their highly erudite insightful papers for inclusion in these volumes, gave us unstinted help in the past and without whose valuable advice and boundless co-operation this project might not have been successfully completed. Still, however, inadequate it may seem, we take this opportunity to express our heart-felt thanks to all these scholars whose help we have received and still continue to receive in matters connected with the publication of these three-volumes work on Lord Mahavira. Prof. T. K. Sarkar (vi)

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CONTENTS Preface 1. (1) Obeisance To The Illuminators (2) BRRRTo cht 2. Vardhamana Initiated Himself As A Monk Hermann Jacobi 3. The Utopia and the Utopian N.M. Tatia & Muni Mahendra Kumar Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira Ganesh Lalwani 5. The Doctrines Of The Great Victor 6. Personality of Lord Mahavira and the Sermon At Champa K.C. Lalwani Jinas and Avatars G. Parrinder 8. On Mahavira And His Predecessors Hermann Jacobi 108 9. 118 10. 133 The Predecessors Of Lord Mahavira N.R. Guseva Jainism Before Mahavira Devendra Kumar Shastri The Founders Of Jainism Jack Finegan Jainism Before Lord Mahavira Kailash Chand Jain 11. 139 12. 155 (vii)

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13. The Practice Of The Earlier Tirthankaras H.L. Jain 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Jainism Upto The Last Victor S.R. Goyal Parents Of The Tirthankaras Umakant P. Shah Vardhamana And The Foundations of Jainism Padmanath S. Jaini Yaksini Of The Twenty-Fourth Jina Umakant P. Shah The Fordmakers Paul Dundas The Philosophies Of The Gnyata Putra K.C. Lalwani 20. The Life Of Mahavira K.V. Mardia (viii) 166 176 208 219 257 268 304 307

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OBEISANCE TO THE ILLUMINATORS 2. The ford-founders who are :1. The illuminators of the world, They that all the sacred fordo unfurled, They that have the dotage and malice conquered, Such liberated souls twenty and four be numbered. The first Lord is Shri Adiinath, Lord Ajitnath is the second one, Enable me to keep all my sinful deeds shun. 3. The third Lord is Shri Sambhavanath, Lord Abhinandan is the fourth one. Enable me to keep away all my Papas and fun. The fifth Lord is Shri Sumitnath, L.ord Padamprabh is the sixth one Liberate me of all, I have evil done, 5. The seventh Lord is Shri Supasharvanath, Lord Chandraprabha is the eighth one, Enable me to do the good I can. Lord Suvidhnath stands the nineth, Lord Shitalanath comes at tenth, Emancipate me of all my filth. 7. Lord Shryancenath, the eleventh be Lord Vasupujya, that 12th be Make me like a kalpa-tree. 8. The thirteenth Lord is Shri Vimalnath, The fourteenth Lord is Shri Anantnath, Make me reject the false, and accept the Truth.

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Lord Mahavira To Lord Dharamanath, we fifteenth reckon, And Lord Shantinath, Sixteenth known, Enable me to protect the Religion. Lord Kunthunath, we seventeenth name, And Lord Addarnath, we eighteenth name, Keep me off from all the shame. 10. 11. Lord Mallinath, we nineteenth count, To Lord Munisuvrata, we twentieth mount, Keep me off from all the wordly account. 12. Lord Naminath at twenty first comes, Lord Aristnami, we twenty second term, Make me recite all the Agmic-Hymns. 13. Lord Parshwanath is given the twenty third seat, And Lord Varadhaman be given the twenty fourth seat, Pacify me off all my greed and heat. 14. Beyond all the Karmik-filth, All these ascetics are. Founders of the sacred fords, Keep the dotage and death afar. Thus, O'ye twenty and four Tirthankars! Bless me. 15. Admired by me, Adorned and worshipped in the world O'ye, highest ordered saints! Advance me Rose - health, Admit me to the Right thought Bestow upon me the meditation - wealth. 16. Purer than the Luna herself, More radiant than Apollo self, Deeper than the Oceans that lie, O' such saints! Why don't you, me to liberation tie?

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anyayogavyavacchedikA 1. anantavijJAna matItadoSa mabAdhyasiddhAntamamartyapUjyam / zrI vardhamAnaM jinamAptamukhyaM svayaMbhuvaM stotumahaM yatiSye / / Of infinite knowledge (vijnana), with failings outgone, of tenets irrefutable, to be worshipped by immortals; (3) giorous Vardhamana, the jina, the chief of authorities, the self-originated, I shall endeavour to praise. 2. ayaM jano nAtha! tava stavAya guNAntarebhyaH spRhayAlureva / vigAhatAM kintu yathArthavAda __ mekaM parIkSAvidhidurvidagdhaH / / This person, O lord, for thy praise, though zealous for other qualities, nevertheless let plunge into 'statement according to fact', (that) one, being slightly expert in critical method. * 3. guNeSvasUyAM dadhataH pare'mI ___mA zizriyannAma bhavantamIzam / tathApi saMmIlya vilocanAni vicArayantAM nayavartma satyam / / Those others who resent (Thy) qualities, let them not indeed repair to your worship, as the Lord; nevertheless with closed eyes, let them consider the true course of method.

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4 A 5. svato'nuvRttivyativRttibhAjI bhAvA na bhAvAntaraneyarUpAH / parAtmatatvAdatathA'tmatatvAd, dvayaM vadanto'kuzalAH skhalanti // Existences, possessing of themselves conformity and difference, by assenting on ground of a distinct self reality, on ground of a self-reality which is not so, a duality, the unskilful trip up. 7. AdIpamAvyoma samasvabhAvaM syAdvAdamudrAnatibhedi vastu / Lord Mahavira tannityamevaikamanityamanya diti tvadAjJAdviSatAM pralApAH // Entity which down to the lamp, up to ether, is of the same nature, without breaking away from the seal of the Syadvada, that, they say, is in one case simply eternal, in another simply non-eternal. Thus the chatterings of the foes of Thy precepts. (15) 6. karttA'sti kazcijjagataH sa caika: sa sarvagaH sa svavazaH sa nityaH / imAH kuhevAkaviDambanAH syu steSAM na yeSAmanuzAsakastvam // There is a maker of the world, and he is one, he is omnipresent, he is self-dependent, he is eternal these would be pretences of mere assurances on the part of those whose teacher Thou art not. na dharmadharmitvamatIva bhede vRttyAsti cenna tritayaM cakAsti / ihedamityasti matizcavRtau, na gauNabhedo'pi ca lokabAdhaH || There is no relation of attribute and bearer of attribute, if utterly different; if it is by occurrence, no triad appears.

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anyayogavyavacchedikA 'in this this' is the notion (mati) also (ca) in occurrence; there is not a metonymous distinection, and moreover there is violation of world experience. satAmapi syAta kvacideva sattA caitanyamaupAdhikamAtmano'nyat / na saMvidAnandamayI ca muktiH , susUtramAsUtritamatvadIyaiH / / Of existents even there would be existence only in some case, intelligence would be conditioned and other than the self; and Moksa would not be composed of consciousness and bliss: fine sutras sutrified by those who are not Thine! 9. yatraiva yo dRSTaguNaH sa tatra kumbhAdivanniSpratipakSametat / tathA'pi dehAdvahirAtmatatva matatvavAdopahatAH paThanti / / Only where a thing has its qualities observed, there is it; like ajar etc. -this is ineontestable: nevertheless, a reality of the self outside the body propound those maimed by: mistruth doctrines. 10. svayaM vivAdagrahile vitaNDA pANDitya kuNDUla mukhe jane'smin / mAyopadezAtparamarma bhinda nho| virakto muniranyadIyaH / / Among this people, itself obsessed by opposing contentions, their mouths itching with learnedness in pointless talk; cutting the opponent's vital point through delusion teaching, Ho! the dispassioned sage of other groups! 11. na dharmaheturvihitA'pi hiMsA notsRSTamanyArthamapodyate ca / svaputraghAtAnnRpatitvalipsA sabrahamacAri sphuritaM pareSAm / /

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6 Lord Mahavira Hurt, though ordained, is not a cause of merit; and a general rule has not a non-pertinent exception. School-Fellow of a desire to obtain sovereignty through the killing of one's own son is the wild flight of the opponents. 12. prapedire jJAnamanAtmaniSTham // Awareness shines out actually able to reveal self and object; otherwise there is no talk of an object at all. Others from fear of others nevertheless Adopted a cognition not residing in the self. 13. svArthA'vabodhakSama evaM bodha: prakAzate nArthakathA'nyathA tu / pare parebhyo bhayatastathA'pi 14. mAyA satI ced dvayatatvasiddhi rathAsatI hanta kutaH prapaMca : ? mAyaiva cedarthasahA ca tatkiM mAtA ca vandhyA ca bhavatpareSAm // If Maya is existent, then establishment of reality as double; or if non-existent, pray, whence the world? If Maya verily, and also capable of effect, then have Your Worship's opponents one who is both mother and barren? anekamekAtmakameva vAcyaM dvayAtmakaM vAcakamapya'vazyam / ato'nyathA vAcakavAcyaklRptA' vatAvakAnAM pratibhApramAdaH // The denotant is plural, in essence verily one; the denotant also is necessarily in essence dual. In otherwise herefrom supposing a denotant and denotad. there is, on the part of those who are not Thine, error of conception.

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anyayogavyavacchedikA ___15. cidarthazUnyA ca jaDA ca buddhiH zabdAdi tanmAtrajamambarAdi / na bandha mokSau, puruSasya ceti kiyajjaDaina grathitaM virodhi / / Thought void of object, and reason non-intelligent, sky (Ether) etc., born from the pure principles of sound, etc; and no bondage or liberation of spirit, how much that is conflicting has not been indited by the stupid? 16. na tulyakAlaH phalahetubhAvo hetau vilIne na phalasya bhAvaH / na saMvidadvaitapathe'rthasaMvid vilUna zIrNaM sugatendrajAlam / / Not simultaneous is the existence of fruit and cause; when the cause has lapsed, there is not a being of the fruit. On the path of non-duality of consciousness there is not consciousness of objects-- chopped away and fallen to pieces is the phantasmagoria of the Suggata-Lord. 17. binA pramANaM paravanna zUnyaH svapakSasidveH padamaznuvIta / kupyetkRtAntaH spRzate pramANa - maho sudRSTaM tvadasUyidRSTam / / Without a demonstrant the 'empty', like any other, would not get a foothold for the establishment of his own alternative. His tenet would be angry with him if he touched a demonstrant. Ho! Well viewed the.view of our contemners!

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Lord Mahavira 18. kRtapraNAzA'kRtakarma bhoga bhava pramokSasmRti bhaMgadoSAn / upekSya sAkSAt kSaNa bhaMgamicchan naho mahAsAhasikaH paraste / / In patent disregard of the faults-loss of deeds, enjoyment of deeds not done, of ruin of becoming, liberation and memoryaccepting momentary destruction, Ho! greatly venturesome Thy opponent! 19. sA vAsanA sA kSaNasantatizca ___ . nAbhedabhedAnubhayairghaTete / tatastaTA'darzizakuntapota nyAyAtavaduktAni pare zrayantu / / That suffusion and that seriality of moments, do not fit with non-difference, difference, or non-both. Therefore, on the principle of the birding not seeing the shore, let the opponents take refuge in Thy pronouncements. 20. vinA'numAnena parabhisandhi- . ___ masavidAnasya tu nAstikasya / na sAmprataM vaktumapi kva ceSTA kva dRSTamAtraM ca hahA pramAdaH / / But of (for) the Nastika, who without inference is not aware of the intent of others, it is not apposite even to speak: What of a movement, what of a mere look! Alas! error! ____ 21. pratikSaNotpAda-vinAzayogi sthiraikamadhyakSamapIkSamANaH / jina tvadAjJAmavamanyate yaH sa vAtakI nAtha pizAcakI vA / / Whoso, through seeing before his eyes one lasting thing, equipped with momentary origination and destruction, looks, down, OJina! upon Thy precepts, he is madman, O Lord, or demon-possessed.

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anyayogavyavacchedikA 22. 23. anantadharmAtmakameva tatva kuraMgasaMtrAsanasiMhanAdAH || That the real simply is composed of infinite attributes, that existence otherwise than so is not easily justified; such Demonstrations also of Thine are lion-roars for the terrifying of the bad-contention-deer. 24. mato'nyathA satvamasUpapAdam / iti pramANAnyapi te kuvAdi aparyayaM vastu samasyamAna madravyametacca vivicyamAnam / Adeza bhedoditasaptabhaMga madIdRzastvaM budharUpavedyam // Entity, without states, lumped together, and the same, if divided up, again not substance, with its seven nuances arisen from distinction of expression, Thou didst bring to light, Knowable by the typically wise. 25. upAdhibhedopahitaM virUddhaM nArtheSvasatvaM sad vAcyate ca / ityaprabuddhayaiva virodhabhItA, jaDAstadekAntahatAH patanti // Not contradictory, when conditioned by differences of conditions, in things is non-existence, and existence and unutterability. Simply from not having awoke to this, afraid of contradiction, the stupid fall slain by that 'unequivocal' view. sthAnnAzi nityaM sadRzaM virUpaM vAcyaM na vAcyaM sadasatAdeva / 9 vipazcitAM nAtha nipItatatva sudhodgatodagAra parampareyam //

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10 Lord Mahavira Quodammodo perishable, eternal, similar, of diverse form, utterable, not utterable, existent and non-existent, one same thing: O Lord of the discerning! This is a succession of belehings coming up from the nectar of deep-drunk truth. 26. ya eva doSAH kila nityavAde vinAzavAde'pi samAsta eva / parasparadhvaMsiSu kaNTakeSu jayatyadhRSyaM jinazAsanaM te / / Whatsoever faults truly are in the eternality doctrine, the like in the perishableness doctrine also there are, the very same. While the thorns drive out each other mutually, victorious unassailably, O Victor! is Thy teaching. 27. naikAntavAde sukhaduHkhabhogau, na puNyapApe na ca bandhamokSau / durnItivAda vyasanAsinaivaM parairviluptaM jagadapyazeSam / / With the 'non-equivocal' doctrine there are not experience of pleasure and pain; not merit and sin, also not bondage and liberation. thus through others by the sword of the vice of contentions of bad reasonings is abolished even the world without residue. 28. sadeva sat syAtsaditi tridhA'rtho, mIyeta durnItinaya pramANaiH / yathArthadarzI tu nayapramANa pathena durnItipathaM tvamAtthaH // Simply existent, existent, quodammodo existent-thus in three ways. the thing should be measured by wrong-procedure, Methods and Demonstration. But Thou alone, beholder as the thing is, didst by the path of method and demonstration. get rid of the path of bad procedure.

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11 anyayogavyavacchedikA 29. mukto'pi vA'bhyetu bhavaM bhavo vA, bhavasthazUnyo'stu mitAtmavAde / SaDjIvakAyaM tvamanantasaMkhya mAkhyastathA nAtha yathA na doSaH / / On the doctrine of limited selves either even one liberated should come into the world, or the world should be void of dwellers in it. The corporation of six kinds of soul thou didst state as of infinite number; so, O Lord! That there is not fault. 30. anyonyapakSapratipakSabhAvAda, yathA pare matsariNaH pravAdAH / nayAnazeSAnavizeSamicchan na pakSapAtI samayastathA te / / As, because of being alternatives and counter-alternatives one to another, the other prime doctrines are jealous; not so is Thy religion, in desiring the methods in totality without distinction, given to partiality. 31. vAgvaibhavaM te nikhilaM vivektu mAzAsmahe cenmahanIyamukhya / loma jaMghAlatayA samudra, vahema candradyutipAnatRSNAm / / If we hope to discriminate Thy statement-mastery in its entirety, O prime of the venerable! we might with agillity overleap the ocean, might support a thirst for drinking the moonbeams. 32. idaM tatvAtatvavyatikarakarAle'ndhatamase, ___ jaganmAyAkArairiva hataparairhA vinihitam / taduddhartuzakto niyatamavisaMvAdivacana stvamevAtastrAtastvayi kRtasaparyAH / /

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12 Lord Mahavira This world, set alas! by the worthless opponents, as by illusionists, in blind gloom frightful through intermixture of truthuntruth, Thou alone with unerring statement art definitely able to uplift. Hence, O Saviour! to Thee the thoughtful render service.

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VARDHAMANA INITIATED HIMSELF AS A MONK -Hermanna Jacobi In that period, in that age lived the Venerable Ascetic Mahaviia, the five most important moments of whose life happened when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalguni'; to wit: In Uttaraphalguni he descended (from heaven), and having descended (thence), he entered the womb (of Devananda; in Uttaraphalguni he was removed from the Womb (of Devananda) to the womb (of Trisala); in Uttaraphalguni he was born; in Uttaraphalguni tearing out his hair, he left the house, and entered the state of houselessness; in Uttaraphalguni he obtained the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and perfect. But in Svati the Venerable One obtained final liberation?. (I) When in this Avasarpini era, the Sushama-sushama period, the Sushama period, the Sushamaduhshama period, and much time of the Duhsamasushama period had elapsed, seventy-five years nine and a half months of it being left; in the fourth month of summer, in the eighth fortnight, in the light fortnight of Ashadha, on its sixth day, while the moon was in conjunction with Uttaraphalguni, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira descended from the great Vimanas, the all-victorious and all-prosperous Pushpottara, which is like the lotus amongst the best (and highest flowers), and like the Svastika and Vardhamanaka amongst the celestial regions, where he had lived for twenty Sagaropamas till the termination of his allotted lenghth of life, (divine) nature and

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14 Lord Mahavira existence (among gods). Here, forsooth, in the continent of Gambidvipa, in Bharatavarsha, in the southern part of it, in the southern brahmanical part of the place Kundapura, he took the form of an embryo in the womb of Devananda, of the Galandharayana gotra, wife of the Brahmana Rishabhadatta, of the gotra of Kodala, taking the form of a lion4. (2) The knowledge of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira (with reference to this transaction) was threefold: he knew that he was to descend; he knew that he had descended; he knew not when he was decending. For that time has been declared to be infinitesimally small. (3) Then in the third month of the rainy season, the fifth fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Asvina, on its thirteenth day, while the moon was in conjunction with Uttaraphalguni, after the lapse of eighty-two days, on the eighty-third day current, the compassionate god (Indra), reflecting on what was the established custom (with regard to the birth of Tirthankaras), removed the embryo from the southern Brahmanical part of the place Kundapura to the northern Kshatriya part of the same place, refecting the unclean matter, and retaining the clean matter, lodged the fetus in the womb of Trisala of the Vasishtha gotra, wife of the Kshatriya Siddhartha, of the Kasyapa gotra, of the clan of the Gnatris, and lodged the fetus of the Kshahtriyani Trisala in the womb of Devananda of the Galandharayana gotra, wife of the Brahmana Rishabhadatta, of the gotra of Kodala, in the southern brahmanical part of the place Kundapuri. (4) The knowledge of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira (with regard to this transaction) was threefold: he knew that he was to be removed; he knew that he was removed; he also knew when he was being removed. (5) In the period, in that age, once upon a time, after the lapse of nine complete months and seven and a half days, in the first month of summer, in the second fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Kaitra, on its thirteenth day, while the moon was in conjunction with Uttaraphalguni, the Kshatriyani Trisala, perfectly healthy herself, gave birth to a perfectly healthy (boy), the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira. (6) In that night in which the Kshatriyani Trisala, perfectly healthy herself, gave birth to a perfectly healthy (boy), the venerable Ascetic Mahavira, there was one great divine, godly lustre

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Vardhamana Initiated Himself as a Monk 15 (originated) by descending and ascending gods and goddesses (of the four orders of) Bhavanapatis, Vyantaras, Gyotishkas, and Vimanavasins; and in the conflux of gods the bustle of gods amounted to confusion5. (7) In that night, &c., the gods and goddesses rained down one great shower of nectar, sandal powder, flowers, gold, and pearlso. (8) In that night the gods and goddesses (of the abovementioned four orders) performed the customary ceremonies of auspiciousness and honour, and his anointment as a Tirtankara. (9) Upwards from the time when the Venerable Mahavira was placed in the womb of the Kshatriyani Trisala, that family's (treasure) of gold, silver, riches, corn, jewels, pearls, shells, precious stones, and corals increased.? (10) When the parents of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had become aware of this, after the lapse of the tenth day, and the performance of the purification, they prepared much food, drink, sweetmeats, and spices; and having invited a host of friends, near and remote relatives, they distributed, portioned out, bestowed (the above-mentioned materials) to Sramanas, Brahmanas, paupers, beggars), eunuchs, &c., and distributed gifts to those who wanted to make presents; then they gave a dinner to the host of friends, near and remote relatives, and after dinner they announced the name (of the child) to their guests: (11) 'Since the prince was placed in the womb of the Kshatriyani Trisala, this family's (treasure) of gold, silver, riches, corn, jewels, pearls, shells, precious stones, and corals increased; therefore the prince shall be called Vardhamana (i.e. the Increasing).' (12) The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira was attended by five nurses: a wet-nurse, anurse to clean him, one to dress him, one to play with him, one to carry him; being transferred from the lap of one nurse to that of another, he grew up on that beautiful ground, paved with mosaic of precious stones, like a Kampakao tree growing in the glen of a mountain. (13) Then the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira, after his intellect had developed and the childhood had passed away, lived in the enjoyment of the allowed, noble, fivefold joys and pleasures: (consisting in) sound, touch, taste, colour, and smellto. (14)

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16 Lord Mahavira The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira belonged to the Kasyapa gotra. His three names have thus been recorded by tradition: by his parents he was called Vardhamana, because he is devoid of love and hate; (he is called) Sramana (i.e. Ascetic), because he sustain dreadful dangers and fears, the noble namedness, and the miseries of the world; the name Venerable Ascetic Mahavira has been given to his by the gods11. The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira's father belonged to the Kasyapa gotra; he had three names: Siddhartha, Sreyamsa, and Gasamsa12. His mother belonged to the Vasishtha gotra, and had three names: Trisala, Videhadatta, and Priyakarini. His paternal uncle Suparsva belonged to the Kasyapa gotra. His wife Yasoda belonged to the Kaundinya gotra. His daughter, who belonged to the Kasyapa gotra, had two names: Anogga and Priyadarsina. His grand daughter, who belonged to the Kausika gotra, had two names: Seshavati and Yasovati13. (15) The venerable Ascetic Mahavira's parents were worshippers of Parsva and followers of the Sramanas. During many years they were followers of the Sramanas, and for the sake of protecting the six classes of lives they observed, blamed, repented, confessed, and did penance according to their sins. On a bed of Kausa-grass they refected all food, and their bodies dried up by the last mortification of the flesh, which is to end in death. Thus they died in the proper month, and, leaving their bodies, were born as gods in Adbhuta Kalpa. Thence descending after the termination of their allotted length of life, they will, in Mahavideha, with their departing breath, reach absolute perfection, wisdom, liberation, final Nirvana, and the end of all misery. (16) In that period, in that age the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira, a Gnatri Kshatriya, Gnatriputra, a Videha, son of Videhadatta, a native of Videha, a prince of Videha, lived thirty years amongst the householders under the name of 'Videha14.' After his parents had gone to the worlds of the gods and he had fulfilled his promise, he gave up his gold and silver, his troops and chariots, and distributed, portioned out, and gave away his valuable treasures (consisting of) riches, corn, gold, pearls, &c., and distributed among those who wanted to make presents to others. Thus he gave away during a whole year. In the first month of winter, in the first fortnight, in the dark (fortnight) of Margasiras,

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Vardhamana Initiated Himself as a Monk 17 on its tenth day, while the moon was in conjunction with Uttaraphalguni, he made up his mind to retire from the world. (17) A year before the best of Ginas will retire from the world, they continue to give away their property, from the rising of the sun. i. One crore and eight lakhs of gold is his gift at the rising of the sun, as if it were his morning meal. ii. Three hundred and eighty-eight crores and eighty lakhs were given in one year. iii. The Kundaladharas of Vaisramana, the Laukantika and Maharddhika gods in the fifteen Karmabhumis15 wake the Tirthankara. iv. In Brahma Kalpa and in the line of Krishnas, the Laukantika Vimanas are eightfold and infinite in number. v. These orders of gods wake the best of Ginas, the Venerable Vina: 'Arhat! Propagate the religion which is a blessing to all creatures in the world!' vi. When the gods and goddesses. (of the four orders of) Bhavanapatis, Vyantaras, Gyotishkas, and Vimanavasins had become aware of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira's intention to retire from the world, they assumed their proper form, dress, and ensigns, ascended with their proper pomp and splendour, together with their whole retinue, their own vehicles and chariots, and rejecting all gross matter, retained only the subtle matter. Then they rose and with that excellent, quick, swift, rapid, divine motion of the gods they came down again crossing numberless continents and oceans till they arrived in Gambudvipa at the northern Kashtriya part of the place Kundapura; in the north-eastern quarter of it they suddenly halted. (18) Sakra, the leader and king of the gods, quietly and slowly stopped his vehicle and chariot, quietly and slowly descended from it and went apart. There he underwent a great transformation, and produced by magic a great, beautiful, lovely, fine-shaped divine pavilion 16, which was ornamented with many designs in precious stones, gold, and pearls. In the middle part of that divine pavilion he produced one great throne of the same description, with a footstool. (19) Then he went where the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira was,

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18 Lord Mahavira and thrice circum bulating him from left to right, he praised and worshipped him. Leading him to the divine pavilion, he softly placed him with the face towards the east on the throne, anointed him with hundredfold and thousandfold refined oil, with perfumes and decoctions, bathed him with pure water, and rubbed him with beautifying cool sandal7, laid on a piece of cloth worth a lakh. He clad him in a pair of robes so light that the smallest breath would carry them away; they were manufactured in a famous city, praised by clever artists, soft as the fume of horses, interwoven with gold by skilful masters, and ornamented with designs of flamingos. Then (the god) decked him with necklaces of many and fewer strings, with one hanging down over his breast and one consisting of one row of pearls, with a garland, a golden string, a turban, a diadem, wreath of precious stones, and decorated him with garlands, ribbons, scarves, and sashes like the Kalpavriksha. (20) The god then, for a second time, under went a great transformation, and produced by magic the great palankin, called Kandraprabha18 which a thousand men carry. (This palankin) was adorned with pictures of wolves, bulls, horses, men, dolphins, birds, monkeys, elephants, antelopes, sarabhas19; yacks, tigers, lions, creeping plants, and a train of couples of Vidyadharas; it had a halo of thousands of rays; it was decorated with thousands of brilliant glittering rupees, its lustre was mild and bright; the eyes could not bear its light; it shone with heaps and masses of pearls; it was hung with strings and ribbons, and with golden excellent necklaces, extremely beautiful; it was embellished with designs of lotuses and many other plants; its cupola was adorned with may precious stones of five colours, with bells and flags; it was conspicuous, lovely, beautiful, splendid, magnificent. (21) This palankin was brought for the best of Ginas, who is free from old age and death; it was hung with wreaths and garlands of divine flowers, grown in water or on dry ground. vii. In the middle of the palankin (was) a costly throne covered with a divine cloth, precious stones and silver with a footstool, for the best of Ginas. viii. He wore on his head a chaplet and a diadem, his body was shining, and he was adorned with many ornaments; he had put on a robe of muslin worth a lakh. ix.

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Vardhamana Initiated Himself as a Monk 19 After a fast of three days, with a glorious resolution he ascended the supreme palankin, purifying all by his light. x. He sat on his throne, and Sakra and Isana, on both sides, fanned him with chowries, the handles of which were inlaid with jewels and precious stones. xi. In front it was uplifted by men, covered with joyful horripilation; behind the gods carried it: the Suras and Asuras, the Garudas and the chiefs of Nagas. xii. The Suras carried it on the eastern side, and the Asuras on the southeren one; on the western side the Garudas carried it, and the Nagas on the northern side. xiii. As a grove in blossom or a lotus-covered lake in autumn looks beautiful with a mass of flowers, so did (then) the firmament with hosts of gods. xiv. As a grove of Siddhartha20, of Karnikara21 or of Kampaka22 looks beautiful with a mass of flowers, so did (then) the firmament with hosts of gods. xv. In the skies and on earth the sound of musical instruments produced by hundreds of thousands of excellent drums, kettledrums, cymbals, and conches was extremely pleasant. xvi. Then the gods ordered many hundreds of actors to perform a very rich concert of four kinds of instruments: stringed instruments and drums, cymbals and wind-instruments. xvii. At that period, in that age, in the first month of winter, in th first fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Margasiras, on its tenth day, called Suvrata23, in the Muhurta called Vigaya, while the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalguni, when the shadow had turned towards the east, and the first Paurushi24 was over, after fasting three days without taking water, having put on one garment, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira, in his palankin Kandraprabha, which only a thousand men can carry, with a train of gods, men, and Asuras left the northern Kshatriya part of the place Kundarpura by the high way for the park Gnatri Shanda. There, just at the beginning of night, he caused the palankin Kandraprabha to stop quietly on a slightly raised untouched ground, quietly descended from it, sat quietly down on a throne with the face towards the east, and took off all his ornaments and finery. (22) The god Vaisramana, prostrating himself25, caught up the

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20 Lord Mahavira finery and ornaments of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira in a cloth of flamingo-pattern. Mahavira then plucked out with his right and left (hands) on the right and left (sides of his head) his hair in five handfuls. But Sakra, the leader and king of the gods, falling down before the feet of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira, caught up the hair in a cup of diamond, and requesting his permission, brought them to the Milk Ocean. After the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had plucked out his hair in five handfuls (as described above), he paid obeisance to all liberated spirits, and vowing to do no sinful act, he adopted the holy conduct. At that moment the whole assembly of men and gods stood motionless, like the figures on a picture. At the command of Sakra, the clamout of men and gods, and the sound of musical instruments suddenly ceased, when Mahavira chose the holy conduct. xviii. Day and night following that conduct which is a blessing to all animated and living beings, the zealous gods listen to him with joyful horripilation. xix. When the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had adopted the holy conduct which product that state of soul in which the reward of former action is temporarily counteracted, he reached the knowledge called Manahparyaya26, by which he knew the thoughts of all sentient beings, with five organs, which are not defective, and possess a developed intellect, (living) in the two and a half continents and the two oceans. Then he formed the following resolution: I shall for twelve years neglect my body and abandon the care of it; I shall with equanimity bear, undergo, and suffer all calamities arising from divine powers, men or animals27. (23) The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira having formed this resolution, and neglecting his body, arrived in the village Kummara when only one Muhurta of the day remained. Neglecting his body, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira meditated on his Self, in blameless lodgings, in blameless wandering, in restraint, kindness, avoidance of sinful influence (samvara), chaste life, in patience, freedom from passion, contentment; control, circumspectness, practising religious postures and acts; walking the path of Nirvana and liberation, which is the fruit of good conduct. living thus he with equanimity bore, endured, sustained, and suffered all calamities arising from divine powers, men, and animals, with undisturbed

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Vardhamana Initiated Himself as a Monk 21 arising from divine powers, men, and animals, with undisturbed and unafflicted mind, careful of body, speech, and mind. (24) The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira passed twelve years in this way of life; during the thirteenth year in the second month of summer, in the fourth fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Vaisakha, on its tenth day, called Suvrata, in the Muhurta called Vigaya, while the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalguni, when the shadow had turned towards the east, and the first wake was over, outside of the town Grimbhikagrama28 on the northern bank of the river Rigupalika29, in the field of the householder Samaga, in a north-eastern direction from an old temple30, not far from a Sal tree, in a squatting position with joined heels exposing himself to the heat of the sun, with the knees high and the head low, in deep meditation, in the midst of abstract meditation, he reached Nirvana31, the complete and full, the unobstructed, unimpeded, infinite and supreme, best knowledge and intuition, called Kevala. (25) When the Venerable One had become an Arhat and Gina, he was a Kevalin, omniscient and comprehending all objects, he knew all conditions of the world, of gods, men, and demons; whence they come, where the go, whether they are born as men or animals (kyavana), or become gods or hellbeings (upapada); their food, drink, doings, desires, open and secret deeds, their conversation and gossip, and the thoughts of their minds; he saw and knew all conditions in the whole world of all living beings. (26) On the day when the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira reached the Kevala, the gods (of the four orders of) Bhavanapatis, Vyantaras, Gyotishkas, and Vimanavasins descended from, and ascended to heaven, &c. (as on the moment of his birth, see above, $ 7). (27) Then when the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had reached the highest knowledge and intuition, he reflected on himself and the world: first he taught the law to the gods, afterwards to men. (28) 1. Hub aim Hatthottara in the original. Kalpa Sutra, $ 1. Vimanas are palaces of the gods. Cf. Kalpa Sutra, $2. Cf. Kalpa Sutra, $ 97. w

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Lord Mahavira 12. 6. Cf. Kalpa Satra, $ 98. Cf. Kalpa Sutra, $ 90. The next word, bhivvumdaga, has been left out in the translation. Michelia Champaka.. . 10. CF. Kalpa Sutra, $ 10. 11. Cl. Kalpa Satra, $ 108. The spaced words are Prakrit, the Sanskrit form of which cannot be made out with certainty. 13. Cf. Kalpa Satra, $ 109. 14. Cf. Kalpa Sutra, $ 110. 15. Those parts of the world which are inhabited by men who practise religious duties, are called Karmabhumi. In Gambudvipa they are Bharata, Airavata, and Videha. 16. Devakhamdaya in the original. My translation is but a guess. 17. Gosirsha and red sandal. 18. I. E. shining like the moon. 19. A fabulous animal with eight legs. 20. White Mustard. 21. Cassia Fistula. 22. Michelia Champaka. 23. Correct suvvatenam in the printed text. 24. Wake, Yama,or time of three hours. 25. Gamtuvayapadie, according to the Guzerati Balbodh this means making obeisance to the Lord of the world by touching his feet. Another MS. has : Then Sakra the chief and king of the gods. 26. Or Manahparyaya. 27. Cf. Kalpa Sutra, $ 117. 28. Gambhiyagama in Prakrit. 29. Uggupaliya in Prakrit. 30. Or, a temple called Vigayavartta. Niv 'ane or newane; it may also be an adjective, belonging to nirvana. This is of course not the final nirvana, which is reached at the dissolution of the body, but that state which the orthodox philosophers call givanmukti. 31.

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3 THE UTOPIA AND THE UTOPIAN* -N.M. Tatia & Muni Mahendra Kumar The Ideal Monk The virtues of the ideal monk constitute the Utopia. These virtues are contained in the Uttarajjhayanani, XV, and the Dasaveyaliyam, X, under the common caption Sa-Bhikkhu. We give here a versified English rendering of the two chapters, each English verse being preceded by its Prakrit original. The contents of these two chapters are comaparable to those of the Bhikkhuvagga of the Pali dhammapada. Sa-Bhikkhuyam (Uttarajjhayanani, XV) 1. monam carissami samecca dhammam Sahie ujiu-kade niyana-chinne Samthavam jahejja akama-kame Annaesi parivuae, sa bhikkhu. A monk's life shall I lead, perceiving the truth, Wishing well, upright, tearing off intents deep; Abandoning acquaintance, longing not for objects sensual, Who begs from families strange, be is indeed the ideal monk. * 2. raovarayam carejja ladhe virae veyaviyaya-rakkhie , panne abhibhu ya sauva-damsi je kamhim ci na mucchie, sa bhikkhu. * Today and tomorrow's printers and Publishers, New Delhi, 1981.

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Lord Mahavira With affection ceased, and vivacious, Abstaining, knowing the lore, self-protected, Wise and conquering, perceiving all, Who is attached not anywhere, he is indeed the ideal monk. akkosa-vaham viittu dhire muni care ladhe niccam aya-gutte; avvagga-mane asampahitthe je kasinam ahiyasae, sa bhikkhu. Overcoming abuse and injury, steadfast, Vivacious ever, the sage travels self-protected. Undistracted in mind, not elated, Who endures all, he is indeed the ideal monk. pantam sayanasanam bhaitta si unham viviham ca damsa-masagam avvagga-mane asampahitthe je kasinam ahiyasae, sa bhikkhu. Using beds and seats lowly, Cold and heat diverse, gnats and mosquitoes, Undistracted in mind, not elated, Who endures all, he is indeed the ideal monk. na sakkaim icchai, na puyam, no vi ya vandanagam, kuo pasamsam; je samjae suvvae tavassi sahie aya-gavesae, sa bhikkhu. Desires not treatment respectful, nor homage, Nor reverence, let alone praise; Self-restrained, keeping the vows, ascetic, Wishing well, who introspects the self, he is indeed the ideal monk. jena puna jahai jiviyam moham va kasinam niyacchai (nara) narim pajahe saya tavassi na ya kouhallam uve, sa bhikkhu. For whom one gives up life, Oi falls into delusion deep; Such women ever the ascetic avoids, And is not enamoured, he is indeed the ideal monk.

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The Utopia and the Utopian 7. 8. 9. 10. chinnam sara bhomam antalikkham suminam lakkhana-danda-vatthu-vijjam anga-viyaram sarassa vijjam je vijjahi na jivai, sa bhikkhu. The rent (in garment), tones, (portents) earthly and celestial, Dreams, science of signs, staffs and building-sites, Defects physical and the science of cries, Who lives not on science such, he is indeed the ideal monk. mantam (mulam) viviham ca vejja-cintam, vamana-vireyana-dhumanetta-sinanam aura-saranam tigicchiyam ca, tam parinnaya parivvae, sa bhikkhu. Charms strange and doctor's prescriptions, Emetics, purgatives, fumigation, and bathing, The patient's asylum and treatment medical, Eschewing, who renounces, he is indeed the ideal monk. khattiya-gana ugga rayaputta mahna bhoiya viviha-sippino ya, no tesi vae siloga-puyam; tam parinnaya parivvae, sa bhikkhu. Ksatriyas, guilds, ugras, princes, 25 Mahanas, Bhogas, and artisans of all sorts; Who praises not, nor honours, And avoiding them, renounces, he is indeed the ideal monk. gihino je pavvaiena dittha appavaiena va samthuya havejja, tesim ihaloiya-pphal'attha [jo] samthava na karei , sa bhikkhu. The householders whom, after renouncing, he met, Or, ere renunciation, was acquainted with; With them, who, for gains earthly, Cultivates not acquaintance, he is indeed the ideal monk.

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26 11. 12. 13. 14. sayanasana-pana-bhojanam viviham khaima-saimam paresim adae padisehie niyanthe je tattha na paussai, sa bhikkhu. Beds and seats, drink or food, Dainties various, and spices, by others, Refuses to partake of, the Nirgrantha, Who gets not angry, he is indeed the ideal monk. jam kim c'ahara-pana-jayam viviham khaima-saimam paresim [laddhum] jo tam tivihena nanukampe Lord Mahavira mana-vaya-kaya-susamvude, sa bhikkhu. Food and drink of kind any, And dainties various, and spices, by others, (Being offered), who blesses them not in the triple way, restrained in thought, word, and deed, he is indeed the ideal monk. ayamagam ceva javodanam ca siyam soviram javodagam ca. no hilae pinda nirasam tam, panta-kulai parivvae, sa bhikkhu Rice-water and barley-pap, Cold sour gruel, and barley-water, Insipid alms, who despises not, And visits the houses lowliest, he is indeed the ideal monk. sadda viviha bhavanti loe divva manussaga taha tiriccha bhima bhaya-bherava urala je socca na vihijjai, sa bhikkhu. Sounds manifold there are in the world, Of gods and men, and of beasts too, Dreadful, frightening and awful ones; Who bears them unperturbed, he in indeed the ideal monk.

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The Utopia and the topian 27 15. 16. vadam viviham samecca loe sahie khey'aige ya koviy'appa panne abhibhu ya savva-damsi uvasante avihedae, sa bhikkhu. Knowing doctrines different in the world, Wishing well, griefless, and learned; Wise, conquering, and perceiving everything, Tranquil and unoffensive, he is indeed the ideal monk. asippa-jivi agihe amitte ji'indie savvao vippamukke anu-kkasai lahu-appa-bhakkhe cecca giham egacare, sa bhikkhu. Not living on craft, without house and friends, Subduing his senses, free from ties all; With passions tenuous, eating light and little, Houseless and living alone, he is indeed the ideal monk. Sa-Bhikkhu (Dasavealiyam X) nikkhamma-m-anaya buddha-vayane niccam citta-samahio havejja itthina vasam na yavi gacche, vantam no padiyayai (je), sa bhikkhu. Abiding by the Law, who renounces the world, Contemplates ever on the words of the Enlightened One; And avoiding all women, swallows not back The vomit, he is indeed the ideal monk. pudhavim na khane (na), khanavae, sioyaga na pie (na) piyavae, aganim sattham jaha su-nisiyam tam na jale na jalavae (je), sa bhikkhu. Who digs not the earth, nor makes others dig, Drinks not water cold, nor makes other drink; Kindles not fire, the weapon sharp, Nor gets it kindled, he is indeed the ideal monk. 2.

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28 Lord Mahavira 3. anilena na vie na viyavae, hariyani na chinde (na) chidavae; biyani saya vivajjayanto saccittam naharae (je), sa bhikkhu. Who fans not the air, nor gets it fanned, Wounds not the vegetation, nor makes others wound; Always gives up the seeds, and takes not The live food, he is indeed the ideal monk. vahanam tasa-thavarana hoi pudhavi tana-kattha-nissiyanam, tamha uddesiyam na bhunje, no vi pae na payavae (je), sa bhikkhu. Involves as that, killing of being, mobile and immobile, Infesting earth, straw, and wood, Who accepts not the food for himself intended; Nor cooks, nor gets cooked, he is indeed the ideal monk. roitta Nayaputta-vayanam appa-same mannejja chap-pi kae panca ya phase mahavvayaim pancasava-samvarae (je), sa bhikkhu. With unshakable faith in the words of the Naya-scion, Who identifies himself with the world of sixfold beings; And observes in full the five vows great, Restraining the five doors of influx, he is indeed the ideal monk. cattari vame saya kasae dhuva-jogi ya havejja buhddha-vayane, ahane nijjaya-ruva-rayae gihi-jogam parivajjae (je), sa bhikkhu. Giving up passions fourfold, Absorbed always in words of the Enlightened One; Without possessions, away from silver and gold, Who forsakes the world, he is indeed the ideal monk.

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The Utopia and the Utopian 29 7. Sammad-ditthi saya amudhe "atthi hu nane tave ya samjane ya" tavasa dhunai purana-pavam mana-vaya-kaya-susamuude [je), sa bhikkhu. With faith set right, and ever from delusion free, Believer in wisdom, austerity and restraint; Who shakes off sins old by penance (from the soul), Restrained in thought, speech, and body, he is indeed the ideal monk. 8. taheva asanam panagam va viviham khaima-saimam labhitta "hohi attho sue pare va" tam na nihe na nihavae (je), sa bhikkhu. And thus on getting any food or drink, Dainties various, and spices; Intending to use them on the morrow or further still, Who stores them not, nor gets stored, he is indeed the ideal monk. 9. taheva asanam panagam va viviham khaima-saimam labhitta chandiya sahammiyana bhunje, bhocca sajjhaya-rae ya je, sa bhikkhu. And also on getting any food or drink, Dainties various, and spices; Inviting fellow monks, who eats, And engages in study after eating, he is indeed the ideal monk. 10. na ya vuggahiyam kaham kahejja na ya kuppe nihu' indie pasante, samjama-dhuva joga-jette uvasante avihedae (je), sabhikkhu. Who indulges not in talks contentious, Nor is angered, with senses unruffled, and tranquil; Always devoted, and absorbed in restraint full, Quiet and calm, belittling none, he is indeed the ideal monk.

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30 11. 12. 14. jo sahai hu gama-kantae akkosam ca pahara-tajjanao [ya], bhaya-bherava sadda sa-ppahase sama-suha-dukkha-sahe ya je, sa bhikkha. Who tolerates the set of sensual thorns, Abuses, beating, and rebukes; Scornful laugh, terrible, dread and loud, And, with equanimity, pleasure and pain, he is indeed the ideal monk. padimam padivajjiya masane no bhae bhaya-bheravai dissa, 13. asaim vosattha-catta-dehe viviha-guna-tavo-rae ya niccam na sariam c'abhikankhai [je], sa bhikkhu. In intensive penance at the cemetery engaged, Who fears not the terrible and dreadful sight; Engaged ever in various deeds of merit and penance, Longs not for the body, he is indeed the ideal monk. Lord Mahavira akkutthe va hae va lusie va pudhavie'same muni havejja aniyane akuuhale [ya je], sa bhikkhu. Every now and again, detached and aloof from body, Abused or beaten or wounded; The saint who remains unmoved like the earth, Free from desires and curiosity, is indeed the ideal monk. abhibhuya kaena parisahaim samuddhare jai-pahao appayam vittu jai-maranam mahabbhayam tave rae samanie [je], sa bhikkhu. Physically enduring hardships all, From metempsychosis himself who saves; And realizes the dreadfulness of birth and death, In ascetic penance engaged, he is indeed the ideal monk.

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The Utopia and the Utopian 31 15. hattha-samjae paya-samjae vaya-samjae samjaindiaye ajjhapparae susamahiyappa suttattham ca viyanai (je), sa bhikkhu. Restraining the hands, and also the feet, Restraining the speech, and the senses too; Absorbed in self, and with self concentered deep, Who knows scripture in letter and in spirit, he is indeed the ideal monk. 16. uvahimmi amucchie agiddhe annaya-uncham pula-nippulae kaya-vikkaya-sannihio virae savva-sangavagae (ya je), sa bhikkhu. Neither attached to possessions, nor greedy of them, Begging remnants from families strange, and free from monk hood hollow; Abstaining from purchase, sale, and hoarding, Who is away from attachment all, he is indeed the ideal monk. 17. alola-bhikkhu na rasesu giddhe uncham care jiviya nabhikankhi iddhim ca sakkarana puyanam ca cae thiy'appa anihe (je), sa bhikkhu. The mendicant, with senses not loose, nor greedy of tasty food, Living on remnants, and longing not for life; Powers supernal, respect, and reverence, who wants not; With self steadfast and energy unconcealed, is indeed the ideal monk. na param vaejjasi "ayam kusile", jen' anne kuppejja, na tam vaejja; janiya patteya punna-pavam attanam na samukkase (je), sa bhikkhu. Who calls not anyone names, And says not what angers him; Knowing the virtues and vices of each, Exalts not himself to the skies, he is indeed the ideal monk. 18.

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32 19. 20. 21. na jai-matte na ya ruva-matte, na labha-matte na suena matte, mayani savvani vivajjayanto dhamma-jjhana-rae ya je, sa bhikkhu. Who prides not himself on caste, nor on beauty, Nor on gain, nor on learning; Eschewing all prides, Lord Mahavira Absorbed in meditation on dhamma, he is indeed the ideal monk. paveyae ajja-payam maha-muni, dhamme thio thavayai param pi; nikkhamma vajjejja kusila-lingam na yavi hasam kahae [je], sa bhikkhu. Teacher of the noble goal, the great saint, Himself established in steadfastness, established others too; Renouncing all, who shuns the vestiges of monkhood bad, Indulges not in laughter silly, is indeed the ideal monk. tam deha-vasam asuim asasayam saya cae nicca-hiya-tthiy' appo; chindittu jai-maranassa bandhanam uvei bhikkhu apunagamam gaim -tti bemi. The mortal frame impure and fragile, One should ever forsake, steady in perennial weal of self, Tearing off the bondage of birth and death, The monk attains the state, from metempsychosis free. -Thus do say.

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The Utopia and the Utopian 33 The Victor embodying the characteristics of the ideal monk is the Utopian. The Uvahanasuyam (the sruta on penance) of the Ayaro (First Srutaskandha, chapter IX) gives a vivid picture of the ascetic life of lord Mahavira, that sets the example to be followed by the aspirants to jinahood. It is, in fact, a description that led the authors of Jaina Monasticism to formulate the Jinakalpa (the Victor's Course'. Here we give a versified English rendering of the Uvahanasuyam, each English verse being preceded by its Prakrit original. The Prakrit expression uvahana is comparable to the Pali word padhana, meaning 'exertion, energetic effort, striving, concentration of mind'. 2.. 3. ahasuyam vaissami, jaha se samane bhagavam utthaya; samkhae tamsi hemante, ahuna pavvai riitha. Relate shall I, as actually I heard, How that Samana, the Lord, waking, Perceiving, in that autumn Travelled, just ordained. no cev'imena vatthena, pihissami tamsi hemante; se parae avakahae, eyam khu anudhammiyam tassa. With this robe, shan't I, Cover myself that autumn (vowed He), And observed (the vow) for ever; His obedience to the Law indeed was such. cattari sahie mase, bahave pana-jaiyagamma; abhirujjha kayam viharimsu, arusiyanam tattha himsimsu. More than four months, Living beings of varieties many, gathering, Climbing, crawled over His body, And wounded Him stinging in anger and wrath. samvaccharam sahiyam masam, jam na rikka is vatthagam bhagavam; ace lae tato cai, tam vosajja vattham anagare. For a year and a month, The robe the Lord left not off; (But), naked and relinquishing was He, then, Giving up the robe, as a houseless monk.

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Lord Mahavira adu porisim tiriya-bhittim, cakkhumasajja antaso jhai; aha cakkhu-bhiay-sahiya, te "hanta-hanta" bahave kandimsu. Then on wall in front of man's length, Fixing His eyes, inwardly did He meditate; Frightened by His eyes, and assembledm Exclaiming' 'Oh alas, Oh alas' cried many. sayanehim viimissehim, itthio tattha se parinnaya; sagariyam na se seve, iti se sayam pavesiya jhai. In abodes intermixed, Women He avoided; In sexual act He never indulged, (But), secluding Himself, meditated deep. je ke'ime agaratta, misibhavam pahaya se jhai; putto vi nabhibhasimsu, gacchai naivattai anju. Whosoever were there in the house, Shunning them all, He meditated alone; Answered not, when asked, Left, but unconcerned, never swerving. 2 no sukarametam egesim, nabhibhase abhivayamane; hayapuvvo tattha dandehim, lusiyapuvvo appapunnehim. Not easy indeed was it for all, Not to respond, being greeted, Or with sticks beaten, Or cut by people of merit thin. 9-10. pharusaim duttiikkhaim, aiyacce muni parakkamamane; aghaya-natta-giyaim, dandajuddhaim mutthijuddhaim.(9) gadhie mihu kahasu, samayammi nayaseue usioge adakkhu; etaim so uralaim, gacchai nayaputte asaranae (10) (Sounds) harsh and the unbearable, Overcoming, the Sage exerted hard; The tales, dances, and songs, Stick-fighting and boxing, (9) And people in conversation, And compacts, the Naya-scion, griefless, (avoided); All sights coarse and vulgar, The Naya-son left, recalling not. (10)

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The Utopia and the Utopian 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. avi sahie duve vase, siodam abhocca nikkhante; egattagae pihiyacce, se abhinnayadamsane sante. And for more than a couple of years, Before renouncing, cold water He eschewed; Solitary, guarding His body (and mind), With intuition gained, and tranquil. pudhavim ca au-kaya, teu-kayam ca vau-kayam ca; panagaim biya hariyaim, tasa-kayam ca savvaso nacca Beings earth-bodied, water-bodied, Fire-bodied, and air-bodied too, Lichens, seeds, vegetation, And creatures mobile, fully He perceived. eyaim santi padilehe, cittamantaim se abhinnaya; parivajjiyana viharittha, iti samkhae se mahavire. These He marked as facts existent, And knowing them as objects animate, Injured them not, and wandered, Perceiving the truth, the Hero Great. 35 adu thavara tasattae, tasajiva ya thavarattae; adu savvajoinya satta, kammuna kappiya pudho bala. The immobile turns into the mobile, And the mobile also goes the immobile's way; The beings of species manifold, Ignorant, are differently by karma wrought. bhagavam ca evam annesim, sovahie hu luppai bale; kammam ca savvaso nacca, tam padiyaikke pavagam bhagavam. And convinced was the Lord, With possessions, shall perish, the ignorant. Knowing the karma perfectly well, The evil the Lord forsook. 16-17. duviham samecca mehavi, kiriyam akkaya' anelisim nani; ayana-soyam aivaya-soyam, jogam ca savvaso nacca. (16) aivattiyam anauttim, sayam annesim akaranayae; jass'itthio parinnaya, savvakammavahao se adakkhu. (17) Comprehending the twofold, the Prudent, The kiriya-(and-akiriya) doctrine unique, expounded by the wise,

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36 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. The current inflowing and the current vicious, And knowing activity (threefold) in full, (16) Indulged not in that vice, Himself, and dissuaded others too; Women forsooth He completely forsook As source of evil all, and was the seer true (17). Lord Mahavira Ahakadam na se seve, savvaso kammuna ya adakkhu; Jam kimci pavagam bhagavam, tam akuvvam viyadam bhunjittha. What was made for Him He never used, As the law of karma He perfectly knew, In whatever was sinful, the Lord, Indulged not, and the immune alone He consumed. no sevai ya paravattham, parapae vi se na bhunjittha; parivajjiyana omanam, gacchai samkhadim asaranae. Another's robe He never used, Nor did He eat from vessels of others; The (crowded and) despicable, Avoided feasting places, recalling not. mayanne asana-panassa, nanugiddhe rasesu apadine; acchim pi no pamajjiya, no vi ya kanduyaye muni gayam. Measure of food and drink, He knew, Greedy not of tastes, unaffected, Rubbed not even the eye, Nor did the Saint His body scratch. appam tiriyam pehae, appam pitthao u pehae; appam buie apadibhani, panthapehi care jayamane. Little looking sideward, And turning behind little; In reply, speaking little, Vigilant, looking on His path, He wandered. sisiramsi addhapadivanne, tam vosajja vattham anagare; pasarettu bahum parakkame, no avalambiyana khandhamsi. On winter half advanced, The Ascetic, leaving off the robe, And stretching the arms, exerted Himself; (But) never by them, the shoulders He clasped.

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The Utopia and the Utopian 37 23 essa vihi anukkanto, mahenena maimaya; apadinnena virena, kasavena mahesina -tti bemi This course, indeed, was followed, By the Mahana wise; The Hero, unaffected, The Kasava, the Seer Great. -Thus do I say. cariyasanaim sejjao, egaiyao jao buiyao; aikkha taim sayanasanaim jaim sevittha se mahavire. Of the accustomed seats and abodes, Reported as they are, Those abodes and seats please relate That the Great Hero did use. avesana-sabha-oavasu, paniyasalasu egaya vaso; aduva paliyatthanesu, palalapunjesu egaya vaso. At workshops, assembly halls, water-sheds, And shops, sometimes He lodged; Or at manufactories And under straw-sheds sometimes He dwelt. agantare aramagare, nagare vi egaya vaso; susane sunnagare va, rukkhamule vi egaya vaso. At travellers' halls, garden-houses, And towns sometimes He lodged; At cemetery or deserted house, And at the foot of trees, sometimes He dwelt. etehim muni sayanehm, samane asi patelasa vase; raindiyam pi jayamane, appamatte samahie jhai. At such abodes, the Sage, The Ascetic, some thirteen years spent; Day and night careful, And vigilant, meditating, quiet and calm.

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Lord Mahavira 5. niddam pi no pagamae, sevai bhagavam utthae; jaggavai ya appanam, isim saiyasi apadinne Even sleep for pleasure and rest, The Lord, waking, did never seek; And waked Himself up, When by chance drowsy, the unaffected One. sambujjhamane punaravi, asimsu bhagavam uttae; nikkhamma egaya rao, bahim camkamiya muhuttagam. Rising (from sleep), again, The Lord seated Himself, waking; And going out in the night sometimes, Walked about for a while. sayanehim tassuvasagga, bhima asi anegaruva ya; samsappaga ya pana, aduva pakkhino uvacaranti. At those abodes, trials, Terrible and manifold He had; The crawling creatures, And birds upon Him preyed. 8-10. adu kucara uvacaranti, garamakkha ya sattihattha ya; adu gamiya uvasagga, itti egaiya puriso ya. (8) ihaloiyaim paraloiyaim bhimaim age garuvaim; avi subhi-dubbi-ganhaim, saddaim ane garuvaim. (9) ahiyasae saya samie, phasaim viruvaruvaim; araim raim abhibhuya, riyai mahane abahuvai. (10) And bad people molested Him, The village-guards, and the lancers too; The trials by the village folk, And varieties of women and men too; (8) Of this world and the other world, Terrible and of sorts many; And smells, good and bad, Sounds of varieties diverse; (9) Endured He ever self-restrained, Touches of varieties great; Overcoming displeasure and pleasure, Travelled the Mahana, silent and calm. (10)

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The Utopia and the Utopian 11. 12. sa janehim tattha pucchimsu, egacara ri egaya rao; avvahie kasaitta, pehamane samahim apadinne. Interrogated by wayfarers there, And sometimes at night by waylayers too; Unmoved and silent, maltreated by them, Engrossed in meditation, unaffected, was He. 16. ayam antaramsi ko ettha, aham amsi' tti bhikkhu ahattu; ayam uttame se dhamme, tusinie sa kasaie jhai. Who is inside there? I am here, a bhiksu, said He; That was His way unique, Silent, though ill-treated, meditated He. 13-15. jamsippege paveyanti, sisire marue pavayante; tamsippege anagara, himavae nivayam esanti. (13) sanghadio pavisissamo, eha ya samadahamana; pihiya va sakkhamo, aidukkham himaga-samphasa. (14) tamsi bhagavam apadinne, ahe viyade ahiyasa davie; nikkhamma egaya rao, caei, bhagavam samiyae. (15) Some tremble with cold, In winter, when gales blow; Then some monks houseless, At ice-fall, seek place sheltered from wind; (13) Rugs shall we wrap round, And kindling fuel, Or staying indoors, shall we bear, So painful the touches cold; (14) In (winter) that, the Lord, unaffected, Endured (pain) so terrible, strong in will; And going out in the night, sometimes, The Lord endured, quiet and calm. (15) 39 esa vihi anukkanto, mahavena maimaya; apadinnena virena, kasavena mahesina. -tti bemi This course, indeed, was followed, By the Mahana, wise; The Hero, unaffected, The Kasava, the Seer Great. -Thus do I say.

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Lord Mahavira III tanaphase siyaphase ya, teuphase ya damsa-masage ya; ahiyasae saya samie, phasaim viruvaruvaim. The touches of grass and the touches of cold, The touches of fire and gnats and mosquitoes too; Ever did He, with equanimity, bear, The touches of varieties diverse. aha duccara-ladham acari, vajabhumim ca subbhabhumim ca; pantam sejjam sevimsu, asanagaim ceva pantaim. Then travelled He, in the Ladhas, the pathless tract, The Vajjabhumi and the Subbhabhumi; Rough beds there He used, And rough seats too. 2 ladhehim tassuvasagga, bahave janavaya lusimsu; aha luhadesie bhatte, kukkura tattha himsimsu nivaimsu. In the Ladhas, dangers many He faced, Attacked was He, by natives many; In that land of insipid food; Dogs ran at Him to bite. appe jane nivarei, lusanae sunae dasamane; chuchukarenti ahamsu, samanam kukkura dasantu'tti. Few people warded off, The dogs, attacking and biting the samanas; Crying chu-chu instead, They let the dogs bite. elikkhae jane bhujjo, bahave vajjabhumim pharusasi; latthim gahaya naliyam, tattha eva viharimsu. People there were mostly such, Many in the Vajjabhumi, on coarse food lived; Carrying stick and staff, Travelled there (the samanas too). evam pi tattha viharanta, puttha-purva ahesi sunaehim; samluncamana sunaehim, duccaragani tattha ladhehim.

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The Utopia and the Utopian Travelling even thus (equipped), Bitten were they by dogs; And also torn by them; Dangerous indeed, were the Ladhas to travel. nidhaya dandam panehim tam kayam vosajjamanagare; aha gamakantae bhagavam, te ahiyasae abhisamecca. Without enmity against creatures those, Abandoning the body, the Houseless Monk, The set of thorns sensual, the Lord, Endured, with patience, knowing full. nao samgamasise va, parae tattha se mahavire; evam pi tattha ladhehim, aladdhapuvvo vi egaya gamo. Like the elephant at the head of battle, Victorious was the Hero Great; And there in the Ladhas, No village sometimes was reached. 10. uvasamkamantam apadinnam, gamantiyam pi appattam; padinikkamittu lusimsu, eyao param palehi tti. Him, on journey, the unaffected One, Though village yet was not reached, Coming out, they attached, Saying 'Get away from here'. haya-puvvo tattha dandenam, aduva mutthina adu phalenam; adu leluna kavalenam, hanta-hanta bahave kandimsu. Striking Him with stick, Or with fist, or lance-head; Or with clod, or potsherd, Exclaiming 'Oh alas, Oh alas', cried many. mamsuni chinnapuvvaim, utthubhanti egaya kayam; parissahaim luncimsu ahava pamsuna avakirimsu. His flesh was cut, And on His body, sometimes they spat; Tortured Him, inflicting hardships, Or with dust they covered Him. uccalaiya nihanimsu, aduva asanao khalaimsu; vosatthakae panayasi, dukkhasahe bhagavam apadinne. 11.

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Lord Mahavira Throwing Him up, they let Him fall, Or in His postures, they disturbed Him; Abandoning the body, modestly did He, Bore suffering, the Lord, unaffected. 13. suro samgamasise va, samuude tattha se mahavire; padisevamane phausaim, acale bhagavam riittha. Or like the hero at the head of battle. Armoured (self-restrained), there the Hero Great. Bearing all hardships, Unmoved, the Lord, travelled. 14. esa vihi anukkanto, mahanena maimaya; apadinnena virena, kasavena mahesina. -tti bemi. This course, indeed, was followed, By the Mahana wise; The Hero, unaffected, The Kasava, the Seer Great. -Thus do I say. IV omoyariyam caei, aputthe vi bhagavam rogehim; puttho va se aputtho va, no se saijjai teiccham. Scanty food the Lord ever took, Though by diseases unattacked; Attacked or not attacked; Medical treatment, he desired not. samsohanam ca vamanam ca, gayabbhamganam sinanam ca; sambahanam na se kappe, danta-pakkhalanam parinnae. Purgatives and emetics, Anointing the body, and bathing, And massaging behoved Him not; From cleansing teeth, he ever abstained. virae ya gamadhammehim, riyai mahane abahuvai; sisirammi egaya bhagavam, chayae jhai asi ya. Averse from pleasures sensuous,

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The Utopia and the Utopian Wandered the Mahana speaking but little; In winter sometimes, the Lord, Meditated, seated in the shade. ayavai ya gimhanam, acchai ukkudue abhivate; adu javaittha luhenam, oyana-manthu-kummasenam. To heat, he exposed Himself, in summer, Or facing hot wind, sat squatting; And lived on rough food, Rice, pounded jujube and beans. eyani tinni padiseve, aitha mase ya javae bhagavam; apiittha egaya bhagava, addhamasam aduva masam pi. Only taking these three, the Lord, Sustained himself, eight months, Dark not water, sometimes, For a fortnight or even a month. avi sahie duve mase, chappi mase aduva apivittha; rayovarayam apadinne, annagilayam egaya bhunje. And for more than two months, Or six months, He did not drink; Day and night awake, unaffected, Stale food sometimes, He took. chattenam egaya bhunje, aduva atthamena dasamenam; duvalasamena egaya bhunje, pehanane samahim apadinne. The sixth (meal), sometimes He took, Or the eighth or the tenth; The twelfth, sometimes, He took, Engrossed in meditation, unaffected. 6. naccana se mahauire, no vi ya pavagam sayam akasi; annehim vi na karittha, kirantam pi nanujanittha. Knowing (the truth), the Hero Great, Never did commit any sin Himself; Nor induced others do, To sins of others, nor did he consent. gamam pavise nayaram va, ghasam ese kadam paratthae; suvisuddham esiya bhagavam, ayata-jogayae sevittha. Village or town he entered,

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44 13. 10-12. adu vayasa diginchanta, je anne rasesino satta; ghasesanae citthante, sayayam nivai ya pehae. (10) adu mahanam va, samana va, gamapindolagam ca aihim va; sovagam musiyaram va kukkuram va viviham thiyam purao (11) vitticcheyam vajjanto, tes'appattiyam pariharanto; mandam parakkame bhagavam, ahimsamano ghasam esittha. (12) 14. 15. Begging food for others made; Food perfectly immune, the Lord begged, And used, with impulses restrained in full. Lord Mahavira And the hungry crows, Or the creatures thirsty; Waiting there, intent on food, Seeing them, assembling oft; (10) Or a Mahana or a samana, A village-beggar or a guest; A candala, or a cat, Or a dog, standing on the way; (11) Obstructing not their livelihood, And frightening them not; Slowly moved the Lord, And begged His food, injuring none. (12) avi suiyam va, siyapindam purana-kummasam; adu bakkasam pulagam va, laddha pinde aladdhae davie. And spiced or unspiced, Cold food, old bean, Or old pap, bad grain, Even secured or not, contented was He. avi jhai se mahavire, asanatthe akukkue jhanam; uddham ahe ririyam ca, pehamane samahim apadinne. And meditated, the Hero Great, Seated in some posture, undistracted, in meditation; (Looking) above, below, in front. Engrossed in meditation, unaffected. akasai vigayagehi, saddaruvesu amucchie jhai; chaumatthe vi parakkamamane, no pamayam saim pi kuvvittha. Passionless, freed from greed,

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The Utopia and the Utopian Not attached to sounds and colours, meditated He; Exerting hard, vestiges of karma though still there, Non-vigilant He never was. 16. 17. sayam eva abhisamagamma, ayaya-jogam ayasohie; ab, iinivvude amaille, avakaham bhagavam samiyasi. By Himself knowing the truth, With impulses restrained, and self purified; Finally liberated was He, deceitless, Throughout life, self-controlled was the Lord. esa vihi anukkanto, mahanena maimaya; apadinnena virena, kasavena mahesina. -tti bemi. This course, indeed, was followed, By the Mahana wise; The Hero, unaffected, The Kasava, the Seer Great. -Thus do I say.

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THUS SAYETH LORD MAHAVIRA -Ganesh Lalwani Of The Journey He who starteth on a long journey without provision will come to grief on the way suffering from hunger and thirst. He who starteth for the next world without observing dharma will come to grief on the way suffering from distress and disease. He who starteth on a long journey with provision will be happy on the way suffering neither from hunger nor thirst. He who starteth for the next world observing dharma will be happy on the way carrying little of karma and no suffering. Whosoever disireth his own well-being should, therefore, cast away anger, conceit, deceit and lust. For these four aggravate sin. Anger killeth love, conceit humility, deceit amity and lust everything. By calmness anger is to be won, by meekness conceit, by straightness deceit, and by content lust. Anger, conceit, deceit and lust these four are faults that defile the soul. An arhat who has conquered them, commits no sin nor causes it to be committed. Anger and conceit unchecked, deceit and lust growing, these four are the black kasayas that water the roots of rebirth. Oh Lord, what doth he obtain by conquering anger? By conquering anger, he obtaineth endurance, acquireth no more karma productive of anger and destroyeth the same acquired before. * Jain Bhagwan, Calcutta, 1974

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira Oh Lord, what doth he obtain by conquering conceit? By conquering conceit, he obtaineth tenderness of feeling, acquireth no more karma productive of conceit and destroyeth the same acquired before. Oh Lord, what doth he obtain by conquering deceit? By conquering deceit, he obtaineth sincerity, acquireth no more karma productive of deceit and destroyeth the same acquired before. 47 Oh Lord, what doth he obtain by conquering lust? Be conquering lust, he obtaineth content, acquireth no more karma productive of lust and destroyeth the same acquired before. Of Difficulties Difficult it is to give up pleasures and by the fickle these cannot easily be forsaken. But there are the righteous who get over this immense ocean of succession of births like traders getting over the sea. This body is the ship and ye the sailor, succession of births the ocean which the pious cross. Understand this, and why not? It is difficult to obtain right understanding afterwards. Days will never return nor is it easy to have a human frame. To be impartial to all a friend and a foe alike, and not to killthroughout life are indeed difficult. Not to speak untruth even imperceptibly and to speak truth wholesome are indeed difficult. To abstain from unchastity after tasting sensual pleasure and to keep a vow, of rigorous sexual abstinence are indeed difficult. Make a gift of the whole universe to one man and he would not be contented. To be contented is indeed difficult. But it is upto you to be free from bondage. Of The Way How can I escape misery of this unstable and mutable world, which is full of suffering? By purifying all knowledge, by forsaking folly and delusion and by destroying likes and dislikes ye can realise the moksa, which is all bliss. Verily do they say that Right Knowledge, Right Faith and

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48 Right Conduct are the way to moksa-the final liberation. To serve the preceptor and the aged, to keep aloof from the fools and intently to study the scriptures and to consider the texts and to live upto them is the way. Lord Mahavira Therefore, should ye be humble and respectful to him from whom ye learneth the precepts, and with folded hands show him thy respect. Honour him thus in mind, speech and action. He who is prompt and needs no express direction and always carries out devoutly what he is advised is a good pupil. Understand ye, therefore, your preceptor's thoughts and words, and by words express thy assent and execute them in deed. Verily he showeth his poverty who showeth not his respect to his preceptor out of conceit, anger, deceit or carelessness. His learning leadeth him to his ruin as the fruit of a bamboo lead to its own destruction. Suffereth he who is not humble, prospereth he who is meek. He who knoweth this receives proper training. Of Humility Empty is penance for the sake of fame though performed by men of noble birth, but meritorious is that of which nobody knows. Blow not thy own trumpet. He who combateth vanities of knowledge, of penance, of caste and of good living, is wise and is of the right stuff. So give ye up these vanities, and firm in dharma cultivate them not. Thus ye shall become a Great Soul which is above all castes and can realise the state of castelessness. From the root grows the trunk and from the trunk branches shoot, from the branches grow the twigs and from the twigs the leaves. And then flowers blossom and the tree bears fruit and juice. Such is humility. It is the root dharma, and moksa is its juice. By humility, ye learn the scriptures quickly and attain fame and, in the end, liberation of thy soul. Thou who are wise to love modesty, scriptures, penances and right conduct, conquer ye thy passions. Of Self To control self is unpalatable like a mouthful of sand and difficult like a walk along the edge of a sword.

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira 49 And, for the weak, to live a restrained life is difficult, as difficult it is to fill a bag with wind. But know this that though difficult it is to conquer one's self, when the self is conquered, five senses, and anger, conceit, deceit lust-all are conquered. Therefore, knowing thy strength and endurance, faith and capacity, place and time, ye should employ thyself. Greater will be his victory who conquereth his self than that of one who conquereth thousands in a valiant fight. Fight with thy self; why fight with foes external? Happy is he who conquereth his self by his self. Conquer thy self, for difficult it is to conquer self. If self is conquered, ye shall be happy in this world and after. Better it is that I should conquer myself by restraint and penance than be restrained by others by fetters and death. As a crane is produced from an egg and a egg from a crane, so delusion springs from desire and desire from delusion. Likes and dislikes are seeds of our acts, and our acts have their origin in delusion : how we act is at the root of our births and deaths and they say that births and deaths are suffering themselves. Suffering ceases for him who hath no delusion, delusion for him who hath no desire, desire for him who hath no lust, and lust him who owneth nothing. Mortify thyself, forsake all delicacies of this body and overcome. Destroy thy hatred and conquer attachment ar:d be happy in this world. He, who hath no regard for a thing hath really killed the consideration of a thing as his own. And he who hath no such consideration is a real Muni. He is without property, without ego, without attachment, without conceit, and is of even mind towards all being, animate or inanimate. He is of even mind in success or failure, in happiness or misery, in life or death, in praise or blame, in honour or insult. And he is equable to things pleasant or unpleasant, to food or fast, to interest of this or the other world. Withdraw thy heart, therefore, from fine sensualitiessensualities of sound, sight, smell, taste and touch.

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50 Lord Mahavira It is not possible not to hear when ye are hearing. Therefore, give up thy love for and hatred of what ye hear. It is not possible not to see when ye are seeing. Therefore, give up thy love for and hatred of what ve see It is not possible not to smell when ye are smelling. Therefore, give up thy love for and hatred of what ye smell. It is not possible not to taste when ye are tasting. Therefore, give up thy love for and hatred of what ye taste. It is not possible not to feel, when ye are feeling. Therefore, give up thy love for and hatred of what ye feel. For love and hatred are evils which produce the evil of karma. He who always avoideth them will not stand within the circle of life and death. Of Ahimsa Know other creatures' love for life, for they are like ye. Kill them not; save their life from fear and enmity. All creatures desire to live, none to die. Hence to kill is to sin. A godly man does not kill. Therefore, kill not thy self, consciously or unconsciously, living organisms which move or move not, nor cause slaughter of them. Whosoever killeth creatures of the earth, big and small, as his own self, comprehendeth this immense world. Among the careless, he who restraineth self is enlightened. Of Truth He, who himself is restrained, should speak of only what is seen and that with moderation and clarity. His utterance should be complete. Intelligible and direct, with no verbosity or emotion. For sin toucheth even him who uttereth apparent truths like 'we shall go', 'we shall do' or 'he will do': what then to speak of one who telleth an actual lie. To tell a lie is condemned in this world by the wise, as it causeth distrust in the hearts to beings. For ever, therefore, give it up. For thy sake or for the sake of others, out of anger or out of fear, speak not a lie nor utter a harsh word, nor ask another to do the same. Even a truth harsh or harmful ye should not utter as it leads to sin. De

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira 51 Therefore, avoid to call a squint 'a squint' an eununch 'an eununch' a sick 'a sick', a thief 'a thief'. Of Not Stealing Ye should not take a thing, animate or inanimate, big or small, not even a twig to cleanse thy teeth unless given, nor ask another to take it nor approve of it if it is taken. He who, for his own gain and pleasure, hurteth others and stealeth their property will come to grief in the end. Of Content As ye get, so ye want : want increaseth with every gain. Ye needed two pieces of gold but now millions satiate ye not. Possession of numberless mountains of gold and silver satiates not him who wanteth. Want is as endless as space. Know that this earth with its rice and barley, with its gold and cattle, all put together, will not satisfy a single man. Therefore, practise content. Better is he who restraineth his self, though giveth no alms, than he who giveth thousands and thousands of cows every month but restraineth not his self. Of Brahmacarya If ye desire every woman thou see, ye well be without any hold like a sedge, which wavereth at every gust of wind. He who is engaged in penance, therefore, should not allow himself to look at a woman's shape, beauty, blandishment, laughter, prattle, gesture und glance, nor consider them in mind. For, of all temptations, the craving for women is the most difficult to overcome, as of all rivers the vaitarini is the most difficult to cross. Neither deer-skin, nor nakedness, nor matted hair, nor a piece of yellow cloth, nor tonsure can protect a bhiksu of unchaste character. Not to look at, nor to long for, not to think of, not to talk of, women, these are becoming of meditation of the aryas and are ays wholesome for those who endeavour for a life of sexual abstinence. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a sexual abstinence

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52 Lord Mahavira should avoid the talk of women which delighteth the mind and fomenteth the passions. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence should avoid the familiarity and frequent talks with women. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence should avoid observing the body and limbs of women and their pleasant prattles and languishing looks. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence should avoid tistening to women's cooing, hissing singing, laughing, giggling and wailing. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence should avoid recollections of women's laugh, play, enjoyment, arrogance and sudden threats. Therefore, whosoever endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence should avoid delicious food and drink which may soon rouse his passions. For he who eateth excessively his passions abate not, like forest-fire driven by wind in a forest of fuel: this becometh not of him who endeavourth for a life of sexual abstinence. Therefore, form not any liking for sweet words pleasing to the ears but make on this body contacts harsh and unbearable. For objects of senses by themselves cause not indifference nor emotions, but through delusion, love or hatred, one undergoeth such change. Thus objects of senses and of mind make them suffer who lust for them but they cause not suffering to him who lusteth not. Therefore, they all reap pain who in thought, word or action desire body, its beauty and shape. How can he, who lusteth for the body, ever derive any happiness from anything? He suffereth pain at the time of enjoyment, to procure which he courted trouble. So he who lusteth for beauty cometh untimely to destruction. For being impassioned he rusheth to his death like a moth attracted by the flame. Whosoever is of even mind towards beauty or body is free from sorrow. Though he liveth in the world, the succession of pains affect him not as water affects not the lotus leaves.

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira Of Possession Only for preservation, so that they may practise restraint, necessary objects are possessed by the wise: for they do not have any attachment even for their own body. And rightly by parigraha our Saviour hath not meant physical possession. By it he meant attachment. 53 Sight is the object of eyes. When the sight is pleasant it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred i.e., attachment. Sound is the object of ears. When the sound is pleasant, it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred, i.e., attachment. Smell is the object of nose. When the smell is pleasant, it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred, i.e., attachment. Taste is the object of tongue. When the taste is pleasant, it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred, i.e., attachment. Touch is the object of body. When the touch is pleasant, it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred, i.e., attachment. Thought is the object of mind. When the thought is pleasant, it is the cause of love and when not pleasant the cause of hatred. He who keepeth equanimity towards them is free from love and hatred, i.e., attachment. Of The Proof Of Exertion As long as ye maintain attachment to property, sentient or insentient, even small, or approve of it, ye shall not be delivered from suffering. Telling lie, indulging in sexual intercourse, acquiring personal property and taking things not given-know these to be the cause of bondage in this world and abstain ye from them.

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54 Lord Mahavira A bhiksu is he who is not proud of birth and beauty, nor of gain and learning and hath forsaken all delusions and is devoted to Spiritual Discipline and Divine Contemplation. A bhiksu is he who is ever regardless of his body, and like the earth, who is not affected when abused, struck or pierced and is free desire and from curiousity. A bhiksu is he who hath right faith and who ever forgeteth not to acquire right knowledge, penance and restrain and is alert in mind, word and body. A bhiksu is he who giveth up anger, conceit, deceit and lust, and is always devoted to the words of the enlightened and hath no property, nor gold, nor silver and who avoideth the contact of men of worldly pursuits. Know ye that there are many who are tempted by things temporal and alluring. So keep them out of thy mind. Keep off anger, forsake pride, practise not deceit and give up lust. Lust for life is a dreadful plant, which bringeth forth dreadful fruit. Duly have I uprooted it and happily do I live. So wish not pleasures which are at hand, for thus shall ye learn discernment. Ye shall learn right conduct by living always with the enlightened. True abadonment is his who of his will throweth away even when he could enjoy, pleasures desirable and welcome. True abadonment is not his who by circumstances is debarred from enjoying the pleasure of garments, smells, ornaments, women and bed. Keep not the company of the wicked and beware of them, for they are sweet at first acquaintance. And be not angry when smitten, nor fly into rage when abused. Endure everything with a placid mind and make no great noise. Desire not things which are fine but exert thyself and be on thy feet. De not careless in the conduct and bear thy hardship with equanimity. Cold and heat, flies and gnats, feelings pleasant and unpleasant and diseases will attack this body : bear all these unflinchingly and thus shake off the filth previously acquired. Remember all singing is but lament, all dancing but mockery, all ornaments but burdens, all pleasures but pains.

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira 55 Neither riches nor relations can protect. Know this and know life and get rid of karma. He who is simple is pure and he who is pure dharma abideth with him. And it is for him to attain nirvana by exerting like fire fed with fat. Dharma is perfect harmony. Kill not, restrain and give thyself to penance this is dharma. Even gods bow before him who is firm in dharma. Therefore, kill not living being, nor take anything unless given, nor speak words false and treacherous: this is the dharma of the self-restrained. He who for his comfort killeth creatures which move or move not or hurteth them or taketh what is not given and learneth not what is to be practised will suffer. The wise should, therefore, consider the ways that leads to the cycles of birth, seek Truth and keep amity with all creatures. Not to kill is the quintessence of all wisdom. For to look at all as one with himself is ahimsa. And this much ye should know. Give no offence, therefore, to creatures, on, above or below the earth, whether mobile or immobile. Restrain thy hands and feet and take not anything unless given. Free from delusion and devoted to penance and simplicity, he pruifieth his soul, and shaketh off sins previously committed and committeth them no more. Of Avoiding Carelessness The leaves of the tree wither and fall, when their days are gone, even so do the lives of man. Therefore, be not careless even for a while. As dew-drops last but a while on the top of kusa grass, even so do the lives of men. Therefore, be not careless even for a while. As life is fleet and existence precarious, dust off the filth of previous karma. Be not careless even for a while. Hard it is to have this human birth in the long span of time and hard also are the consequences of karma. Therefore, be not careless even for a while. When your body growth old and your hair turneth white, all your strength abateth. Therefore, be not careless even for a while.

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56 Lord Mahavira Cast off all attachments, as the leaves of lotus keep aloof even from the autumnal water. Be not careless even for a while. Get not into an uneven path or ye shall repent it afterwards like the weak burden-bearer who went astray. Be not careless even for a while. Ye have crossed the great ocean: why do ye falter so near the shore? Hurry to get to the other side. Be not careless even for a while. Of Frailty Fool is he who is cruel, proud, foul-tongued, deceitful, roguish and careless of his self: like a log, he will be carried down stream by life's current. Fool is he who, blinded by his passions, fixeth not his thoughts on his progress and welfare but sinketh down through temptation of lust. He will entangle himself like which is caught in the phlegm. Fool is he who for the sake of pleasures giveth up dharma. He will be stuck in them and will not know his future. He will suffer like a thief who is ever fearful of suffering for his deeds. He will be able to practise restraint even when death has approached. 'If victory over myself I get not early, I shall get it later'speaketh he who presupposes this life to be eternal. But alas, he cometh to grief when his life drawn to its close and dissolution approaches the body. Be thou awake, therefore, though others sleep, and like the wise trust none. Remain alert, for moments are treacherous and this body is weak. Like the bharunda be watchful all the while. Transient is the life of man. Therefore, knowing the way of liberation, give up pleasures, for the days ye live are numbered after all. Frail is this body, impure and of impure origin, a transitory residence and a vessel of suffering. Transient like the flash of lightning are life and beauty which ye love so much. Will ye not comprehend the next? Even for a moment I delight not in this body which is vainan abode of distress and disease-and one which can be seized by infirmity and death.

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira 57 I delight not in this body which sooner or later I must forsake. Evanescent it is as a bubble or foam. Birth is suffering, infirmity is suffering, so is disease and so death. Ah! nothing but suffering is this world in which men pass through an endless travail. Pleasures bring a momentary happiness but suffering afterwards suffering intense. And hence these are obstacles to liberation from mundane existence, and mines of woe. As disastrous is the effect of the kimpaka fruit, so is the effect pleasures enjoyed. Kimpaka fruit is beautiful in colour and taste but fatal when consumed; similar in effect are the pleasures. He who is given to pleasures involveth himself, but he who is not involveth not; he who enjoyeth pleasure must wander through succession of births and he who enjoyeth not will be free. Set not thy heart, therefore, on the grace of woman's limbs nor on the sweetness of her prattles and her glances, for these make our passions and desires wax. Desist ye from sin at once. For transient is the life of men. Those who are engrossed here and given to pleasures, for want of control, will be deluded. As a tortoise whithdraweth his limbs within his own shell so a wise man should by spiritual exertion withdraw his senses from sin within his self. Whosoever is determined that he would give up his body rather than dharma, his senses ever fail to move him as tempestuous wind fail to move a mountain. Of Vain Trust In Wealth, Cattle And Kin Verily I say Death carrieth off a man in the end as a lion carrieth off a buck. For him mother is no help, nor father, nor brother. Therefore, ye yourself are without protection, and as ye without protection, how can ye protect anybody else? Fool is he who thinketh that his wealth, cattle and kin will save him, or that he will save them. But they are of no help, no protection. Riches help him not in this world nor in the other. Though he hath known the right path, he sees it not for riches, like one who sees not the road when light is out.

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Lord Mahavira Wives, children, friends and relations, all are dependent on him during his life, but they follow him out in death. For the sake of his relations, he may commit sin in this world but at the time of reaping, they will not act as relations. For suffering can neither be shared by one's kin nor friends nor sons, nor relations. One hath to suffer it alone. Karma follows only the doer. 58 For the deeds they have done, individually, they suffer in this world, for them they reap and will not get over them before they are fully borne. Of Four Things Which Are Difficult To Obtain Difficult to obtain but of paramount value here to living beings are these four; human birth, instruction in dharma, faith and energy in restraint. Living beings like worms and insects abound this earth and move according to their karma. It is hard which he will do penance, forgive and abstain from killing. And though by fortune he may hear true dharma, it will be hard for him to have faith in it, for there are many who hear of the right path but keep themselves away from it. And though he hath heard true dharma and hath faith in it, yet it will be hard for him to exert himself. For there are many who have faith but exert themselves not. Therefore, having human birth, instructions in true dharma, faith and energy, ye should restrain thyself and dust off particles karma from thyself. Of Those Who Are Venerable It is possible for an ambitious man to bear the iron-darts when there is hope for a future gain, but he who without any hope of gain beareth piercing and prickly words is really venerable. For strokes of foul speech reaching the ears produce a feeling of enmity in our mind, but he who hath his senses restrained can tolerate out of piety and is, therefore, venerable. He who slandereth not one behind his back nor speaketh painful words before his presence nor useth expressions determinelike or expressions harmful is, therefore, venerable. He who is not covetous nor wily, nor deceitful, nor

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Thus Sayeth Lord Mahavira 59 backbiting, nor wretched, nor desirable to be eulogized by others, nor eulogizeth himself and hath no curiosity is, therefore, venerable. He who accepteth little according to his need, though in a position to get much of bed, seat, food and drink and is content, considering contentment to be the principal virtue, is therefore, venerable. Venerable is he who possesseth these virtues, not one who is devoid of them. Abandon sin and embrace there virtues. Know ye thy self by self, keep equanimity in love and hatred and be venerable. He who vieweth all creatures as his own self and seeth them all alike and hath stopped all influx of karma and is self-restrained incurreth no sin. Of Living in Dharma For those who are going down the stream of life and death, dharma is the only isle, a goal a refuge and an excellent shelter. Therefore, look at the folly of the fool, who embraceth sin, giving up dharma. He will be born in hell. And look at the wisdom of the wise, who embraceth dharma, giving up sin. He will be born in heaven. He who buildeth his house on the road certainly do'eth an uncertain thing. He should think of lodging there where abideth everlasting joy. Three traders went abroad each with capital. One of them made profit, and the second returned with his capital. And the third of the traders returned having lost everything, even his capital. This is a parable taken from common life. Know ye this of dharma. Capital is human life; profit is heaven; through the loss of that capital, he acquireth the passage to hell and animality. As a wagon-driver who internationally leaveth off the smooth highway and runneth on a rugged road, repenteth when the axle breaks. So the fool, who transgresseth dharma to embrace sin, repenteth at the time of his death over the broken axle of his life. The days and nights that pass never return. They bear no fruit for him who in dharma abideth not.

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60 Lord Mahavira The days and nights that pass never return. They bear fruit for him who in dharma abideth. Therefore, give thyself to dharma before thou aileth in age and thy sickness swelleth and thy senses wane. For whenever ye die and leave pleasures sweet behind, dharma alone and nothing else on earth can save ye then. Of Brahmana One does not become a Sramana by tonsure, nor a Brahmana by Om nor a Muni by living in the forest, nor a Tapasa by clothing himself in a rainment of Kusa. One becometh a Sramana by equanimity, a Brahmana by a life of abstinence, a Muni by knowledge, and a Tapasa by penance. Therefore, by acts one becometh a Brahmana or a Ksatriya, or a Vaisya, or a Sudra. Him I call a Brahmana who thoroughly knoweth living organisms whether they move or move not, and killeth them not in thought or word or deed. Him I call a Brahmana who speaketh not a lie in anger or in fun or out of lust or fear. Him I call a Brahmana who taketh not a thing unless given, be it sentient or insentient small or big. Him I call a Brahmana who ceveteth not, and liveth unattached and hath no house nor property and hath no friendship with house-holders. Him I call a Brahmana who delighteth not in birth nor aggrieveth, in death but endeareth the teachings of the aryas. Him I call a Brahmana who is exempt from love, hatred and fear, and shineth like gold purified in fire, or tested by black stone. Him I call a Brahmana who is not defiled by leiasures like a lotus that grows in water but is soaked not in it. Those who posses these good qualities are Brahmans and the best. They are able to save themselves and save others.

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THE DOCTRINES OF THE GREAT VICTOR se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samaNANaM NiggaMthANaM ege AraMbhaThANe, pnnnnte| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) one kind of the 'cause of violence' (arambhasthana). se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM duvihe baMdhaNe paNNatte, taM jahA-pejjabaMdhaNe ya, dosabaMdhaNe y| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) two kinds of (causes of) bondage - attachment causing bondage and eversion causing bondage. se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM tao daMDA paNNattA, taMjahA-maNadaMDe, vayadaMDe, kAyadaMDe Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) three kinds of causes of being punished (in the cycle of transmigration) : mental, vocal and physical (causes of punishment). se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM cattAri kasAyA paNNattA, taM jahA-kohakasAe, mANakasAe, mAyAkasAeM, lobhksaae| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) four kinds of passionsanger, pride, conceit, greed. se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samaNANaM niggaMthANaM paMca kAmaguNA paNNattA, taM jahA-sade, saveM, gaMdhe, rase, phaase|

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62 Lord Mahavira Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) five kinds of sensual pleasures-sound, colour, smell taste and touch. se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM chajjIvINakAyA paNNattA, taM jahA-puDhavikAiyA, AukAiyA, teukAiyA, vAukAiyA, vaNassaikAiyA, tskaaiyaa| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from violence to) six kinds of living organisms - earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, windbodied, vegetable-bodied and mobile bodied. se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM satta bhayaTaThANA paNNattA, taM jahA-ihalogabhae, paralogamae, AdANabhae, akamhAbhae, veyaNamae, maraNabhae, asilogbhe| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) seven kinds of fearone from this world, one from the world beyond. evaM aTaTha mayaTaThANe, Nava baMbhaveraguttIo, dasavidhe samaNadhamme, evaM jAva tettiismaasaatnnaautti| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to refrain from) eight kinds of causes of pride, (to protect oneself by) nine kinds of protection of celebacy (to practise) ten kinds of moral acts for an ascetic up to (refrain from) thirty three kinds of insults (of elders). se jahANAmae ajjo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM NaggabhAve muMDabhAve aNdrAThAe adaMtavaNae acchattae aNuvAdraNae bhUmisejjA phalagasajjA kaTaThasejjA kesaloe baMbhaceravAsa paradharavese laTaThAvaladdhavittIo pnnnnttaao| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) (to practise) nudity, keeping oneself shaved, not to indulge in taking bath, in tooth-brushing, in useing umbrella, and in using foot-wear; (to practise) sleeping on the ground, on a piece of woodlog or wooden bed; (to practise)

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The Doctrines of the Great Victor plucking hair, celibacy, (to refrain from) the houses and entering feeling of pleasure and pain on respectively getting alms with honour or without honour. 63 se jahANAmae ajo| mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM AdhAkammieti vA addhesieti vA mIsajjAeti vA ajjhoyaraeti vA pUtie kIte pAmicce acchejje aNisaTaThe abhihaDeti vA kaMtAibhatteti vA dubbhikkhabhatteti vA gilANabhatteti vA vahaliyAbhatteti vA pAhuNabhatteti vA mUlabhoyaNeti va kaMdabhoyaThoti vA phalabheyaNeti vA bIyabheyaNeti vA drariyabhoyaNeti vA paDisiddhe / Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) to refrain from food which is; impure and produced with a view to entertaining a monk, prepared for distribution among monks, prepared for both householders and monks, put in excess in a cooking vessel in view of the arrival of monks, mixing up of pure food with impure one, purchased for the monk, borrowed for a monk on promise of return with interest or otherwise, offered out of fear of the king or another powerful person, owned by a company of persons and given by one of the owners without consent of the co-partners, brought by householder from a place beyond the range of three or seven houses in an avenue, food for a person staying in a drought area, food for a guest, food of roots, food of tuber, food of fruit, food of seed, food of vegetables. se jahANAma ajjo / mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM paMcamadravvatie sapaDikkamaNe acela dhamme paNNatte / Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) a spiritual course of five great vows accompanied with the practice of reintrospection to be performed duly and nudity. se jahANAmae ajjo / mae samaNovAsagANaM paMcANuvvatie satta - sikkhAvatie duvAlasavidhe sAggadhamme pnnnntte| Noble Ones! I have propounded for the lay followers the course of five small vows and seven supplement vows. se jahANAma ajjo / mae samANANaM NiggaMthANaM sejjAtabhapiDeti vA rAyapiDeti vA pddisiddhe|

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64 Lord Mahavira Noble Ones! I have propounded for the ascetics of 'Sramana tradition (or Jain ascetics) to refrain from taking alms from a royal family and the donor of abode. . - se jahANAmae ajjo| mamaNava gaNA egArasa gnndhraa| Noble Ones! There are nine ganas (congregations) and eleven ganadharas (the chief of the gana), in any order. se jahANAmae ajjo| ahaM tIsaM vAsAiM agAravAsamajjhe vasittA muDe bhavittA AgArAo aNagAriyaM pavvaie, duvAlasa saMvaccharAiM terasa pakkhA chaDamatthapariyAgaM pADaNittA terasahiM pakkhehiM aNagAiM tIsaM vAsAiM kevalipa riyAgaM pADaNittA, bAyAlIsaM vAsAiM samANNapariyAgaM pADaNittA, bAvattarivAsAiM savvADayaM pAlaittA sijjhisaM bujhissaM mucciskhaM pariNivvAissaM savvadukkhANamaMtaM kressN| Noble Ones! After having spent thirty years in house-hold life, I got initiated into ascetic life from household life by removing the hair from the head. I remained in the state of non-omniscient ascetic for twelve years and thirteen fortnights. In total, I will complete a tenure of forty two years of ascetic life, on becoming seventy two years old and then I will become liberated, enlightened, free perfect and put an end to all sufferings.

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PERSONALITY OF LORD MAHAVIRA AND HIS SERMON AT CHAMPA -K.C. Lalwani In that period, at that time, Bhagavan Mahavira, the adikara (the first propounder of sruta dharma of his time), the tirthankara (the organiser of the tirtha or four-fold order), self-enlightened, the best among men, a lion among men a white lotus among men, and elephant among men, the destroyer of fear, the giver of right vision, the indicator of the path, the giver of shelter, the giver of life, the giver of succour and relief, movement (transmigration) and support like an island, spiritual emperor of the world upto its four borders, the holder of unmistakable knowledge and conviction, the conqueror of attahcment anci greed, the victor and the giver of victory, the successful and the giver of success, the liberated and the giver of liberation, che enlightened and the giver of enlightenment, all-knowing and allseeing, free from disturbances, free from either spontaneous or conscious efforts, free from diseases, infinite and eternal, free from obstructions, destined to attain the abode of the perfected beings, arhat, jina, kevalin (was wandering from village to village.) He was seven cubits in height, with the whole frame well proportioned. The bone-joints were specially strong. The air inside the body was wholesome. His kidney was as good as that of kanka ( bird known for its good kidney). His digestive organs were as perfect as that of a pigeon. The lower part of the body was as smooth as that of the birds. His back and thigh bones were graceful. The air he breathed out was as fragrant as the fragrance of the ordinary and blue lotus. His skin was tender and smooth. His flesh was free from any germ, healthy, good, white

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66 Lord Mahavira and incomparable. His body took no dirt, deep or light, spot, sweat or dust. Hence it was shining all the while. His head was solid, well-set with sinews and nerves, marked with good signs, bearing the shape of the crest of a mountain or a round stone. Soft like cotton freshly rushing out of a ripe simula fruit, thick hairs, well arranged, thick, clean, shining, with good signs, scented and graceful, looked like a gem called bhuja-mocaka, or an insect called bhrnga, or nila-vikara, or collyrium, or a happy drone, pitchy, wavy and curly. The skin on the scalp where stood the hairs was red like a pomegranate flower, pure like red (burnt) gold and looked glazy as if just rubbed with oil. The upper part of his body was solid, developed and umbrella-like. His forehead was like the crescent, free from any deep mark, flat, pleasant and pure. He had a pair of well set ears looking beautiful, his cheeks fleshy and swollen, his brows looking graceful like a bow which was bent, thin like a line of black clouds, dark and shining. His eyes were spotlessly white, like (the petal of) a blossomed lotus fixed to its stalk. His nose was pointed like the beak of garuda, straight and pointed. His lips were red as the coral, or a bimla fruit. The rows of his teeth were spotless like the moon-beam, or the purest of conches, or cow's milk, or foam, kunda flower, or drops of water, or the lotus stalk. They were free from any cavity whatsoever, strong, closely set shining and beatiful in shape. Although the rows contained many teeth, the setting was however so perfect that the whole thing looked like a single piece. The palate and the lower portion of the tongue were always free from dirt as if just washed, red like a flame or pure gold. His beard and moustache never grew longer (but always remained the same). His chin was fleshy, with beautiful shape, broad and wide like the chin of a tiger. His neck was like the best of conches, with a standard width of four fingers, like the neck of a fine buffalo, pig, lion, tiger, elephant or bull, marked by the specialities of each, and in itself vast. His hands were like the poles of a cart, straight, thick, pleasant, free from weakness, with powerful wrists, with a nice shape, developed, vigorous, fixed, with the bone-joints tightly tied. The full arm looked as if a snake had extended its body in order to establish its hold on the target. His palms were red, thick, soft, developed, beautiful, bearing auspicious marks, with no gap

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 67 between two fingers. His fingers were developed, soft and good. His nails were copper-red, pure, shining and polished. His palms bore the emblem of the sun, the moon, the conch, the wheel and the svastika. His chest was as shining as the surface of a gold slab, wide, flat, fleshy and vast. It had a svastika mark. Because of a plump frame, the bones of his ribs were not visible. The body had a golden tinge, and was graceful and free from disease. It bore 1008 auspicious marks indicating his greatness. His sides had become slender from the chest down, and were proportionate, graceful well-built, neither more nor less, well covered with flesh. On the chest and the abdomen, there were rows of hairs, straight, well arranged, fine, dark, soft, delightful and glazy. His abdomen (the cavity of the belly) had good and strong muscles, like those of fish and birds. He enjoyed the gift of perfect organs of senses and intestine. Like a whirlpool in the Ganga, like a wave taking turn to the right, like a lotus blossomed in the rays of the sun, he had a deep and grave navel. The middle part of the body was slender, like a trident, or a mace, a handle of a golden mirror, or of an axe, best and thunder-like. The waist was round, free from ailment, perfect like the waist of the finest elephant or lion. The secret parts of the body were well built, like those of a horse. Like the body of a pedigree horse, his body remained untouched by urine and stool. His movement was like that of a best elephant, vigorous and confident. His thigs were like the trunk of an elephant. His knees were like the lead of a round box, deep and invisible. The legs beneath the thigs were like the legs of a deer, or like youiss called kurubinda, or like a spindle, round and slender in the downward direction. His ankles were beautiful, well set and covered. His feet were nicely fitted like those of a tortoise. The fingers were in order, from big to small and small, and so on. The nails on his feet were tender and red like a lotus. (As aforesaid), the body bore 1008 marks of the great hero. His legs bore the emblems of a mountain, a city, a crocodile, an ocean and wheel, the very best among the emblems. His beauty had some speciality of its own. His glow was like that of smokeless fire, or an extended lightning or the rays of the early morning sun. He had absolutely stopped the inflow of karma, was wholly

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68 Lord Mahavira free from 'mean'-ness, had no earthly belonging or attachment, no grief, with a pure body free from the bondage of karma, beyond affection, beyond attachment, beyond malice, beyond ignorance. He was the propounder of the nirgrantha tenets, the commander, the leader, the prescription-maker. He was the head of the order of the (Sramana) monks and nuns, all the while helping them to attain greater heights. He had at his disposal 34 super-human qualities, like the words of the Jinas, and another 35, like correct words. Attended by a pious wheels, three unmbrella, a camara, a foot-stool and a throne made from pure crystal, all in the sky, headed by a spiritual banner, he followed by 14,000 monks and 36,000 nuns moved from village to village, making them pure by his touch, himself wholly free from physical exhaustion, and arrived in the suburbs of the city of Campa. When the darkness of the night was to bid good-bye to the approaching light, when the lotus-buds started blossoming and the deer opening their tender eyes, in the morning, when the sun, which had the brilliance of red asoka, or palasa flower, or the redness of the beak of a parrot, or the red half of the gunja fruit, which woke up the forest of lotuses in the tanks, with thousands of rays, the Lord of the day, emitting burning sticks, appeared in the sky, Bhagavan Mahavira stepped in into the Purnabhadra chaitya outside the city of Campa. There he lodged in a shed which was congenial to the practices of the restrained monks, enriching his soul with restraint and penance. In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavana Mahavira had many disciples who practised restraint and penance. They belonged to diverse Ksatriya lines like the Ugras, Bhojas, Rajanyas, Jnatras, Kurus, and many others. Besides, there were many others, bards, army commanders, teachers of religion, business men and men of wealth who came of high maternal and paternal lines, who had a beautiful frame, humility, knowledge, wholesome tinge, grace, valour, good luck and lustre, who had an excess of comfort their sense-organs bestowed by the monarch, who could enjoy pleasures at their discretion, and who were actually enjoying life. Many such persons, having realised that material pleasures were like the poisonous kimpaka fruit, having understood that the span of life was no bigger than that of a bubble on the surface

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa of water or a dew-drop on the kusa tip, threw out their transient of silver, gold, animals, grains, army, vehicles, cash, granneries, state, kingdom, districts, harems, fourfold wealth life ganima, etc., bullion, gems, jewels, pearls, conches, corals, etc., and joined the holy order as monks. Some of these were initiated into monkhood hardly a fortnight back, some a month back, some two, three, till eleven months back, some one, two, three years back, still some who were intiated many years back. 69 In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira had many monks in his order. Some of them were in possession of extra-sensory knowledge, till supreme knowledge. Some were powerful in mind, some in words and some in body. Some were capable to curse and bless by mind, some by words and some by body. The phlegm of some cured all ailments. Like-wise the dirt, urine, stool, touch or any other like hair, nail, etc., of some others were capable to cure all ailments. Some possessed scriptural knowledge as if it was in a store, and others could do the same as if it was in a seed. Some had the capacity to recollect hundreds of parallel sutras on hearing a single one, while some others were capable of holding many words from different sources. For people at large, some were as sweet as milk, as and when they spoke, some were like honey removing all dirt, some like clarified butter (ghee) attracted people to the subject of their discourse. With some, the supply of food was never exhausted whatever be the number of guests (invitees). Some had a limited, while others an exhaustive, knowledge of the psychology of others. Some commanded the power to trasform their body as they pleased, some had a tremendous capacity to walk, while some, like a Vidyadhara, were capable to fly. Some had performed kanakavali penance and some ekavali; some had performed laghusingha-niskridita and some mahalayasing haniskridita; some had performed bhadra-pratima, and some mahabhadra-pratima, some sarvatobhadra-pratima and some ayambila-vardhamana. Some had performed bhiksupratima for a month, some for two months, three months, till seven months, some for one seven days-and-nights, till three seven days-and-nights, some for a whole days and night and some for a single night. Some of the monks had to their credit seven times seven days-and-nights of bhiksu-pratima, some eight times eight

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70 - Lord Mahavira days-and-nights, some nine times nine days-and-nights and some ten times ten days-and-nights. Some had to their credit laghumoka-pratima, some mahamoka-pratima, some javamadhyacandra-pratima and some vojra-madhyacandra-pratima. In this manner, the nirgrantha monks lived on enriching their souls with restraint and penance. In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira had many senior monks as his disciples. They were born in families wherein both the parents belonged to noble line. They were rich in capacity, grace, humility, knowledge, faith and conduct, always careful and cautious about infamy and light in their belongings. They had oration, glory, expression and fame. They had overpowered anger, pride, attachment and greed; also their organs of senses, their sleep and hardships. They had no hankering for life, no fear from death. They had performed great penances. They had sundry qualities of a high order. They were performers of great deeds they had attained great merit by practising great vows. They were capable to safeguard themselves against misconduct, men of great determination, capable to crush the sprouts of attachment and pride, expert in their activities and capable to terminate anger and greed. They were great in vidyas (powers), great in mantras (enchanted words), wise, celibate, great in principles, master of resolve, unflinchingly truthful, great in upholders of prescribed code (samacari). Immensely graceful, great penancers who had conquered their senses, friend of all living beings, they never hankered after the result of their restraint and penance. They were free from curiosity. Nothing external attracted them except restraint. They bore no feeling of enmity towards anyone. They were always busy with the prescribed activities of the Sramana monks. Habitually they obeyed the wishes and orders of their spiritual master and lived by holding the code of the nigranthas to the fore. These monks knew their own tenets as well as the tenets of others. Having thoroughly known their own doctrines through repetition, they roamed in their spiritual world like an infatuated elephant in a lotus forest, always questioning and answering among themselves. They were like a cluster of gems or even a heavenly shop (kutrikapana) where one could get anything. They were capable to defeat their adversaries. They were the masters

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 71 of eleven Angas. They posessed encylopaedic knowledge (convering texts like Prakirnaka, Srutadesa, Srutaniryukti, etc.). They knew all combinations of words as well as all languages. Though not yet Jinas themselves, they were very near to them. Like an omniscient personality, they propounded the fundamentals (of the Sramana path) and lived on by enriching their souls through restraint and penance. In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira had many monks as his disciples who were disciplined in the practice of controls (samitis, etc.), in their movements, their words (expression), their begging, maintenance of their begging bowls and depositing their excreta. They also practised controls of the mind, words and body called guptis. They were inwardly inclined, never allowed their sense-organs to come in touch with ephemeral objects and were firmly rooted in celibacy. They were free from 'meane'-ness, free from the possession of objects (free from objects which established contact with mundane life, and also free from grief and misery) and free from factors which generated karma bondage. They were rid of affection like a small bell-metal vessel. They were spotless like a conch. Like a soul, they had unobstructed movement. They were pure in conduct like pure gold. They were clean in their inclinations like the surface of a mirror. They had their limbs hidden like those of a tortoise. They were free from contamination like lotus leaf. They were without a support like the sky. They were without a home like free air. They caused no pain like the beams of the moon. They were rich in (physical as well as spiritual) capacity like the sun. they were ocean in depth. They were wholly free like the birds. They were firmly rooted like Mount Meru. They were pure at heart like water in autumn. They were uniform (straight) like a rhino's horn. They were unifatuated (ever alert) like a bharunda bird. They were powerful like an elephant. They were patient like a bull. They were invincible like a lion. They were tolerant to sundry touches like the earth. They were always beaming like a well-fed tree. These monks had no obstruction whatsoever at any place. Obstruction has been stated to be of four types, viz., of object, of space, of time and of cognition. As to object, obstruction from living organism, lifeless objects and mixed objects; as to space,

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72 Lord Mahavira obstruction from village, town, forest, farm, room, courtyard, etc.; as to time, obstruction from eternal time (kala), unit to (samaya), avalika, till ayana or any other longer period; as to cognition, obstruction from anger, period attachment, greed, fear and laughter. Leaving aside the four months of the rainy season, they never stayed in a village beyond one night and in a town beyond five nights. They were always alike to excreta and sandal paste, to a lump of clay and a bar of gold, to pleasure and pain. They were free from attachment to this life as well as life hereafter. They lived with a single purpose which was to annihilate totally the bondage of karma which would entitle them to liberation. While wandering, the monks were required to perform penances, external as well as internal. Internal penance has six types and external penance too has six types. In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira had many monks in his order who were highly illustrious (Bhagavanta). Some were the masters of Acara Sruta, till Vipaka Sruta (i.e., masters of 11 Angas, from Acaranga till Vipaka). Some read them, some resolved doubts, some repeated them, some ruminated over them, some gave four types of spiritual discourse, viz., attracting people from attachment to fundamentals, reverting them from a weak track, creating in them a desire for liberation and making them indifferent to mundane like. Some lived with their thighs up and head bent low, sheltered in the cell of meditation, enriching their soul by restraint and penance. They were afraid and alarmed of the world which is like an ocean full of severe miser, with its non-ending and restless water which arises out of birth, old-age and death. In this water which is misery, there are waves establishing and breaking relations; these waves spread through thought-process. There are very deep waves of slaughter and bondage and they emit a terrible sound of attachment and lamentation. The upper surface of this water which is misery in this worldly ocean is full of constant terror of death. It is full of foam made scolding. This is generated by waves (which establish and break relations) crushing against the hard rock of karma made of profound infamy, incessant pain from disease, frequent births and deaths, harsh words and scolding. This wordly ocean has the four passions as its base.

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 73 The worldly ocean has the accumulation of dirt from hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands lives and is apparently exceedingly dreadful. It has been made dark by the force of rushing particles of water moving up by the pressure of wind which is perception (mati) which in its turn in rendered dirty by a non-ending misery (miheccha). It is white only to the extent to which there is hope and hankering for what is yet to be attained. It is covered by a good-looking foam (consisting of infamy and disrespect). The worldly ocean has big whirls of attachment. They create circular movements of water which are the experiences. Thus the water of misery is visible, circling, restless, moving up and falling down. Inside the water, there are terrible and extremely wicked aquatics in the form of delusion. Being incessantly disturbed by the rise and fall of water, living beings in the ocean incessantly cry. Thus with (rising and) falling current of water of wounded worldly beings; the worldly ocean is full of great noise which emits a terrific sound. Floating to and fro in the worldly ocean are the cleaver fish which are ignorance and the crocodiles which are the restless sense-organs. They move at a very quick pace. This disturbs the water which looks as if dancing, flowing from one place to another, whirling and restless. The worldly ocean has rocks such as sadness, fear, gloom, sorrow and falsehood. This is made uncrossable by the bondage of karma which comes down from an endless past, and also by the dirt of misery. The ocean has devious turns/tides which are migrations to and from infernal life, animal life, human life and life in heaven, all together giving the impression of a tidal bore. This worldly ocean has four forms of existence, limitless and terrific. The monks in the order of Mahavira were quickly crossing through this terrific ocean with the help of a boat which is restraint and was held fast by a rope called patience. It is fitted with masts which are the checking of karma inflow and total detachment. Its sail is a pure white cloth which is knowledge. Pure equanimity is its (unfailing) boatman. This boat which is restraint move fast with the help of the wind which is wholesome meditation and penance. This boat has been filled up by the monks with jars containing activity (absence of idleness), karma exhaustion, endeavour, knowledge, faith, pure

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Lord Mahavira conduct-all essentials. Following the course indicated by the Jinas, these great Sramana merchants are moving very fast in their boat which is restraint with their faces turned towards the great port which is perfection. These monks were the masters of right texts. Their talk was pleasant as their questions were intelligent and they cherished a decent hope. While in a village, they spent one night there, and five nights when in a town, conquerors of senses, wholly free from fear, destroying the very possibility of the genesis of fear, totally detached to all forms of life, to non-life (matter), life-non-life, restrained, desisted, tie-free, with little possession, without hankering, covetous of liberation, calm, they led a spiritual life. 74 In that period, at that time, many Asurakumara gods came down to Bhagavan Mahavira. They had a black complexion like the colour of mahanila stone and the glaze of nilamani stone, indigo, the horn of a buffalo and the alasi flower. Their eyes were open like a blossomed lotus, with polished brows, somewhat white, red and copper-like. Their noses were sharp like that of Garuda, straight and high. Their lips were red like a refined coral or the bimba fruit. The rows of their teeth were faultless, like a portion of the moon, white like a clean conch, cow's milk, foam or a lotus stalk. The palms of their hands and the sole of their feet, the upper portion of their mouth and tongue were red like burnt gold. Their hairs were as black as the collyrium, or a dark cloud, or like the rucaka stone, delightful and polished. Their left ears had a ring. Their body had a coat of sandal paste. They nicely wore robes bright like the silidhra flower, fine and free from dirt. They had crossed through their childhood days but had not attained full youth. They were in the prime of their youth. Their arms were decorated with talabhangaka, trutika and other beautiful ornaments. All the fingers had rings on. Their crowns bore the mark of hood-stone (cudamani). They had grace, great fortune, great glow, great valour, great friendship and great power. Their chests were decorated with necklaces. Their arms became stiff like pillars because of the weight of ornaments. They wore bracelets and earrings. They painted their cheeks with musk. Their robes and ornaments were

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 75 uncommon. On their crests, there was a crown bedecked with sundry garlands. They were laden with auspicious flowers and pastes. On their body dangled garlands made from flowers of all seasons. These touched the knee. With divine colour, divine smell, divine shape, divine touch, divine body frame, divine structure, divine fortune, divine glow, divine radiance, divine grace, divine decorations, divine brilliance and divine tinge, brightening and beautifying all the directions, they came down to Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira and moved round him with great devotion. Then they paid their homage and obeisance to him, and having done so, they took their seat neither very near nor very far, with their faces turned towards him, with folded palms. In that period, at that time, leaving aside the Indras of the Asuras, many other denizen gods of the bhavanas, such as, Nagakumaras, Suvarnakumaras, Vidyutkumaras, Agnikumaras, Dvipakumaras, Udadhikumaras, Disakumaras, Pavanakumaras and Stanitakumaras, descended to wait upon Bhagavan Mahavira. They wore different marks, such as, the hood of a snake, garuda, thunderbolt, auspicious pitcher, lion, horse, elephant, crocodile and vardhamanaka (wine-cup) printed on their crown depending on their place of residence. They had great grace, great fortune, still were worshipping him. In that period, at that time, many Vanavyantara gods descended to wait upon Bhagavan Mahavira. They were Pisacas, Bhutas, Yaksas, Raksasas Kinnaras, Kimpurusas, Mahakayas, Mahoragas, Gandharvas who were experts in music and dramatics, Anapannikas, Panapannikas, Risvadikas, Bhutavadikas, Kranditas, Mahakranditas, Kusmandas and Prayatas. They were fickle in their mind, always fond of jokes and games. They were addicted to laughter and gossip. They had interest in music and dancing. They wore wreaths, tiara, crown, ear-rings and many other ornaments, all made from wild flowers produced by their divine power. Their chests were decorated with very long garlands, also made from wild flowers of all seasons which were fragrant, delightful and fully blossomed. They were capable to go wherever they pleased and assume any form they desired. They had put on robes and dresses of diverse hues, all very gaudy and conspicuous, as if they had assembled from many

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76 Lord Mahavira lands. They took delight in games flaming up sex, in quarrels, in swimming with girls, and in simply making noise. They were talking and laughing much. They wore diverse marks which were decked with gems and precious stones. They had immense grace, immense fortune, still were worshipping him. In that period, at that time, the Jyotsika gods descended to wait upon Bhagavan Mahavira. They were : Jupiter, Moon, Sun, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Comets, Mars and Mangala which were as red as a drop of molten gold. These heavenly bodies which usually move on their orbit came down to Bagavana Mahavira. There came down the mobile Ketu, twentyeight types of Naksatras of diverse shape and stars of five hues. There came down some heavenly bodies which shine from a fixed position and others which shine as they move. Each one wore a crown with the distinguishing emblem of his own vimana and its name printed on it. They had immense grace, immense fortune, still were worshipping him. In that period, at time, many vaimanika gods descended to wait upon Bhagavan Mahavira. They came down from their heavenly abodes, viz., Saudharma, Isana, Sanatkumara, Mahendra, Brahmana, Lantaka, Mahasukra, Sahasrana, Anata, Pranata, Arana and Acyuta. They appeared to be immensely happy. They were full of joy because they were keen to pay their homage to the Jina and they had been able to come. They descended on this earth from various vimanas, such as, Palaka, Puspaka, Somanasa, Srivatsa. Nandyavarta, Kamagama. Pritigama, Manogama, Vimala and Sarvatobhadra. They wore on their crown their respective emblems, such as, deer, buffalo, pig, goat, frog, horse, pedigree elephant, snake, rhino and ox. The crowns were loosely placed. Their faces were beaming in the glitter of their ear-rings. So did their crest in the glitter of their crown. They were red in their pigmentation, or yellow like the central piece of lotus, or simply white. They had great power to transform themselves. They had put on diverse robes and dresses, fragrant cosmetics and garlands, had grace and fortune till worshipped him with folded palms. In that period, at that time, there was a huge uproar of a large gossip in triangular parks, at places where three roads met,

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 77 in the squares, at places where four roads met, in the temples, on the highways, in lanes and bye-lanes, in the market place of the city of Campa. All these places were thronged with men. Some oroups were talking in a whisper, some were talking aloud, but there was talk everywhere. People were moving in small groups, often changing position. Some were talking to others very casually, some seriously, some were expressing the same theme in different words. Said they, "Oh beloved of the gods! The fact is that Sramana Bhagvan Mahavira, who is self-enlightened, the founder, the creator of the order, the best among men, till one who is perfected, while wandering from village to village, has, in the course of his wandering mission, arrived here, camped here and is staying here. He is camped in the Purnabhadra caitya outside the city of Campa, with appropriate resolve, enriching his soul by restraint and penance. "Oh beloved of the gods! When the mere mention of his auspicious name and lineage is the giver of great merit, the outcome to one who waits upon him, who pays him homage and obeisance, who asks questions, who worships him, must indeed be very great. When even a single, noble, well-spoken and pious word from Bhagavan Mahavira gives great merit, the merit derived from listening and accepting his whole sermon must indeed be very great. "So Oh beloved of the gods! Let us all go to Sramana Bhagavana Mahavira. Let us pay him homage. Let us pay him compliments. Let us show him respect. Let us worship this great personality with due humility who helps us to destroy sin and to acquire perfection, knowledge and bliss. "This will help us in this life as well as in life hereafter. This will give us bliss. This will wipe clean adverse situations. This will help us in the attainment of perfection." Having discussed like this, a vast crowd of people prepared to go Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira. This included the Ugras, the progency of the Ugras, the Bhogas, the progeny of the Bhogas, the Rajanyas, the progeny of the Rajanyas, the Ksatriyas, the progeny of the Ksatriyas, the Brahmanas, the progeny of the Brahmanas, heroes and their progeny, warriors and their progeny,

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78 Lord Mahavira readers of religious texts and their progeny, Mallakis and their progeny, Licchavis and their progeny, and many other chiefs, princes, nobles, mandavikas, kautumbikas, ivyas, sresthis, army commanders, foreign traders, and so on-some to pay homage, some to worship, some to pay compliments, some to show him regard, some just to catch a glimpe, and some out of sheer curiosity. Some wanted to have some meaning clarified, some wanted to hear what they had never heard, some wanted to have their doubts clarified about what they had heard before. Some wanted to be clear about the fundamentals, such as, jiva, ajiva, about the nature of things, about logical interpretations, and about solutions given on the questions raised by others. : Some desired to use the occasion to cut off all worldly relations and join the order as monks by permanently renouncing their homes. Some wanted to court the five lesser vows and seven educative vows prescribed for the householders. Some were attracted by devotion, and some because it was a family tradition. Having thought like this, people took their bath, performed necessary propitiatory and conciliatory rites, made atonement to make their journey free from danger and put on beautiful dresses. They decorated their heads and necks with beautiful garlands. They decorated themselves with golden ornaments beset with gems. They placed round their neck necklaces, half-necklaces (ardhaharas), necklaces with three strings, decorated their waists with katisutras and placed other decorative ornaments on their person. They besmeared their limbs with sandal paste. Some sat on horse back, some on elephants, some on chariots, palanquins, syandamanikas, some walked down on feet, surrounded by many other pedestrians all around, shouting, roaring, gossiping, filling the city of Campa with a great noise, a great commotion, giving it the look of a mighty ocean, all topsy turvy. They passed through the heart of the city of Campa and moved in the direction of Purnabhadra Caitya. When they reached the vicinity of Bhagavan Mahavira, some of the supernaturals attending a Tirthankara, such as umbrella, etc., came to their sight. Having seen them, they stopped their vehicles and alighted therefrom and came to the spot where Bhagavan Mahavira was seated.

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 79 Having arrived there, they moved round him thrice, paid their homage and obeisance. Having done so, they stood in front of him folding their hands in humility, neither very near nor very far, fully attentive, worshipping him with devotion. Then the aforesaid Intelligence Officer, having learnt all this, was highly de.ighted till his heart expanded in glee. He took his bath, till decorated himself with ornaments light in weight but precious in value, and moved out of his residence. Then moving through the heart of the city of Campa, he arrived in the audience-room of king Kunika, till the king having trasmitted his homage and obeisance to Bhagavana Mahavira, sat on his throne Having sat on his throne, the king confered on the Intelligence Officer a cash award of 12.50 lakhs and honoured him duly Having done so, he dismissed him. Having come out of the city of Campa. he came to the vicinity of the place where stood the caitya named Purnabhadra. Having arrived there, he saw, not from very far nor from too near, the supernaturals like the umbrella, etc., which go with a Tirthankara. There he stopped the royal elephant and alighted from it. Having come down to the ground, he removed from his person and attendance the five royal decorations which were sword, umbrella, crown, sandals and camara. Then he came to the place where was seated Bhagavan Mahavira and then having observed the five rules (abhigama) which one is to observe at a place like this, he stood in the presence of Bhagavan Mahavira. These rules were discarding live objects, placing in due order non-alive objects, covering the body with an untailored wraper, folding arms in the presence of the spiritual master and having full concentration of the mind. then he moved thrice round Bhagavan Mahavira and paid him homage and obeisance. Having paid his homage and obeisance, he worshipped him in three modes, viz., with his body, with his words and with his mind. with his body, like this-he contracted his hands and feet, while listening, he bowed and standing before him, he worshipped with folded hands and with due humility. With his words, like this-When Bhagavan Mahavira said something, he would say, "Bhante! So it is. Bhante! What you say is the authority. Bhante! What you say is the truth. Bhante! What you say is beyond doubt. Bhante! What you say is beneficial. Bhante! What you say

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80 Lord Mahavira is accepted Bhante! What you say is desired and accepted." Thus he worshiped without contradicting the Lord. With his mind, like this-he worshipped with a sincere desire for liberation, with a deep devotion. Wherefrom, the supernaturals surrounding Bhagavan Mahavira were visible, they stopped their vehicles and alighted therefrom. They being surrounding by their attendants came in the august presence of Bhagavan Mahavira and having fulfilled the conditions, they stood before him. They discarded live objects, they embraced non-alive objects, they bent their bodies in humility, they folded their palms as soon as his eyes fell on them, and they engrossed their minds in concentration. Then they moved round Bhagavan Mahavira thrice and paid their homage and obeisance. With king Kunika at their fore, the whole family (including the ladies in attendance) turned their faces towards Bhagavan Mahavira and worshipped him with their hands folded in deep reverence. There on Bhagvan Mahavira, always the same in physical strength, with a body endowed with power, energy, glow and greatness, illustrious, with a voice like that of a kraunca bird or like the sound of the Autumn cloud or the heavenly trumpet delivered his sermon at full length to the great congregation attended by king Kunika, the ladies of his harem, their attendants with their respective families, by rsis, munis, jopis and denizens of heavens,-sermon which spread through the heart, stayed in the throat, was held in the brain, in words received with different local sounds, free from indistinctness, in expressions clear and good, in a musical (sweet) voice, which could be turned into any language, in Ardhamagadhi reaching a distance of a yojana. Without feeling any exhaustion whatsoever, he delivered his sermon to that great assembly consisting of Aryans and nonAryans. There was simultaneous translation of Ardha-magadhi (the language of the sermon) into the language of the listeners. Quoth he There is the loka (universe), there is aloka (space). Likewise, there are souls and non-souls (matter), bondage and liberation, virtue and vice, influx, check and experience, total exhaustion of karma, Arhats, Cakravarties, Baladevas, Vasudevas, hells and the

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 81 infernals, animals, male as well as female, parents-mother and father, rsis, divine beings, heavens perfection, perfected beings, liberation and the liberated. There are slaughter of life, false speech, acquisition without bestowal, sex behaviour and accumulation of property. There are anger, pride, attachment, greed, till the thorn is derived from wrong faith. There are withdrawal from slaughter, from falsehood, from acquisition without bestowal, from sex behaviour and from accumulation of property, till there is consciousness about the thorn of wrong faith. I ordain, all that exists does exist. I propound, all that does not exist does not exist. Right practices yield beneficial results, wrong practices yield harmful results. Soul bind virtue and vice, pass from one existence to another, virtue and vice yield results. He elaborated the Law at length. These words of the Nirgranthas are true, unprecedented, supreme, complete, irrefutable and remover of all thorns. They are road to perfection, to liberation, to non-return, to ending all misery, real and relative to Mahavira. They have never failed, nor will they ever fail. They terminate all misery. Souls treading on this road are perfected, enlightened, liberated; they enter into a state of perfect bliss; the end all misery. Or, if they have to pass through one more human life, the beneficiaries are there after born, if they have still to exhaust some previously acquired karma, as divine beings in one of the heavens. These heavens give a great fortune, till great bliss, with access till the anuttaran-vimanas, and a long span of life. So such divine beings enjoy a great fortune till a long span of life. Their chests are bedecked with necklaces, till they spread the lustre of their bodies in all the ten directions. Born in a heaven, they have beneficial existence and are marked for future liberation, till as aforesaid. All this is the outcome of the words of the Nirganthas. He added further: In this manner, on account of the following four reasons, a soul acquires karma giving life in a hell as an infernal being and is born in a hell : excessive slaughter of life, excessive accumulation, killing of a five organ being and taking meat.

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82 Lord Mahavira And on account of the following reasons, a soul may be born in the world of animals, viz., practising hypnotism on others, deceiving others by changing one's dress/appearance, speaking false words, diverting one's attention when he is about to be robbed by feigning to be inactive/innocent for a short while, and be cunning. And on account of the following reasons, a soul may be born in the words of men, viz., natural simplicity, natural humility, kindness/compassion and absence of jealousy. And among the divine beings for practising restraint with some attachment, practising part restraint, undergoing pain/strain on account of helplessness and by practising the penance of an imprudent person. Such is the Law. He continued: Some souls go for hells, and as infernals, They suffer there an immense pain. Some go to the world of animals And suffer physical and mental pain. 1 Some go to the world of human beings And experience disease, old age and death. Some are destined to reach heavenly abodes To command the enormous treasure and happiness great.2 So infernals and those in animals world, Those in the world of men and the divine beings, The perfected souls and those lodged at the crest, Six forms of life are constituted by them. 3 The way in which the souls are bound, The way in which they attain liberation, The way in which they suffer an immense pain, The way they end it through detachment. 4 With a wretched body and a wretched mind, The way in which they attain the depth of the misery, The way they regain detachment, And smash the layers of karma great. 5 The way wrong deeds give results bad, The way a soul, freed from karma, attains liberation. 6 This way (religion) has two facets to observe, one for householders, another for the homeless monk. Given below is the way of a homeless monk.

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa One who in this world, in all respects, and with all sincerity gets tonsured, gives up his home and enters into the life of a homeless monk desists from inflicting harm/slaughter on any form of life, from falsehood, from usurpation, from sex behaviour and from the accumulation of property. He desists from the intake of food at night. Such is the code essential for a homeless monk. A tie-free man or woman planted on this path is a true follower,such is the instruction. 83 The path for the householder contains twelve items which are five anuvratas (lesser vows), three gunavratas (improving quality) and four siksavratas (educative formulate). Five lesser vows are to desist from a big slaughter/harm to life, to desist in general from false utterances, to desist in general from usurpation, to be contented in sex behaviour with one's own wife and to limit one's desires. Three items to improve quality are: to avoid inclinations harmful to the property of the soul, to restrict directions for the length of movement and to limit the use and continuous use of objects. Four educative practices are: samayika or sitting in equanimity, restricting inclinations, pausadha (living for a while like a monk) and fasting, entertaining (worthy) guests. Finally to reduce body-weight through rigorous practices and to court death like the prudent-such is the path for the householder. In following the tenets of (this) religion, a householder man or woman really follows the order for a devotee,-such is the instruction. Then that vast congregation of men, having heard the words from Bhagavan Mahavira about the path and having accepted them, became delighted and pleased, till their hearts were expanded with glee. The congregation was declared to be over. People moved round Bhagavan Mahavira three times and paid him their homage and obeisance. Having done so, some people renounced their homes, got tonsured and entered into the order of monks and some others courted the five lesser vows and seven educative practices of a pious house-holder. The rest of the people attending the congregation paid their homage and obeisence to Bhagavan Mahavira and submitted as follows "Bhante! You have expressed the tenets of the Nirgranthas in a nice way. You have explained them in an especially impressive way, in beautiful vocabulary, with due humility, in a manner well

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84 Lord Mahavira thought and unprecedented. "Bhante! Verily do they remove all ties. While delineating the Law, you have spoken at length on the tranquilisation of passion. In explaining the tranquilisation of passions, you have analysed the awakened conscience. In analysing the awakened conscience, you have narrated the process of concentrating into one's own self. In narrating the process of concentration, you have emphasized on the need to prevent the degeneration of the soul into an inferior (sinful) state. "Bhante! There is no other Sramana or Mahana who can expound religion in such an exquisite manner, what to speak of excelling you." So saying, people went back in the direction from which they came. In that period, at that time, Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira had as his senior-most disciple, a homeless monk, named Indrabhuti who belonged to the Gautama line. He was seven cubits in height. His body-structure was a graceful square, well balanced in all respects. The joints of his bones were very strong. The glow of his body was akin to a golden line drawn on a black stone and complexion as white as that of a lotus. He was a hard penancer, a burning penancer, a purified penancer, a great penancer, a tremendous penancer, conqueror of hardship-senses-passions, holder of highest virtues, a great sage, Brahmacari of the highest order, careless of his physical frame, centred within his body but capable to burn things over distant regions with his superhuman capacity, sat neither near nor far from Bhagavan Mahavira, with his thighs erect and face cast low, (in utkatuka posture), fully concentrated within self in meditation, enriching his soul by restraint and penance. Afterwards Gautama had a feeling of desire, doubt and curiosity, had a genesis of desire, doubt and curiosity, had the acquisition of desire, doubt and cruiosity, had the personification of a desire, doubt and curiosity in him, and he stood up. Then he came where Bhagavan Mahavira was, thrice moved round him and paid his homage and obeisance. Then standing neither near nor very far from him, with full attention and face turned towards him, with folded hands, while worshiping, he made the following submission: Gautama: "Bhante! Does a living being get entangled in sinful karma in case he has not practised restraint, he has done

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 85 Gautama : "Bhante! Does a living being get entangled in sinful karma in case he has not practised restraint, he has done harm to living organisms, he has not reduced the intensity of sinful karma by renunciation and stopped the inflow of sinful karma through complete renunciation, he has not desisted from physical and other activities, he has not restrained his senses, he chastises self and other by sinful deeds, he has wrong outlook in all respect and he is wholly asleep under the spell of falsehood? Gautama : "Bhante! One who has never practised restraint, has caused harm to living organisms, has not reduced the intensity of sinful karma by renunciation and stopped the inflow of sinful karma through complete renunciation, has not desisted from sinful and other activities, has not restrained his senses, chastises self and others by sinful deeds, has wrong outlook in all respect and is wholly, asleep under the spell of falsehood, does he acquire karma causing delusion? Mahavira : Yes, he does. Gautama : "Bhante! Does a living being experiencing karma causing delusion bind more karma causing delusion, also karma giving experience? Mahavira : Gautama! Verily he does' bind karma causing delusion, also karma giving experience. But when he is having karma causing delusion in an extreme form, he may acquire karma giving experience, but not one causing delusion. Gautama : "Bhante! Is a living being who has never practised restraint, still who is wholly asleep under the spell of falsehood and who is a killer of innumerable mobile beings, is he, having died at a certain moment of the eternal time, born among the infernal beings? Mahavira : Yes, he does. Gautama : "Bhante! Is a living being who has never practised restraint, still has not desisted from sinful and other activities, born, after being dead at a certain moment of the eternal time, among the celestial beings? Mahavira : Gautama! In some cases, he is born among the celestial beings, but in some other cases, he is not so born? Mahavira : Gautama! When living beings residing in village, mines, towns, etc. etc., who are not actuated by a desire to uproot

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86 Lord Mahavira (exhaust) karma, but who torture self by stopping the intake of food and drink, by practising celibacy, by hardship arising out of non-bath, cold, heat, mosquito, sweat, dust, dirt and mud, for short or for long, who are thus totured, such ones, dying at a certain point in eternal time, are born in one of the heavens occupied by the Vanavyantara gods as celestial beings. They are said to go to these heavens, reside there as so many celestial beings. Gautama : Bhante! Of these celestial beings, of what length is their life-span? Mahavira : Ten thousand years. i Gautama : Bhante! Do they have fortune, glow, fame, strength, vigour, vitality and prowess? Mahavira : Yes, they have. Gautama : Bhante! Do they covet the next birth? Mahavira : No, they do not. Such beings who reside in villages, mines, cities, etc., etc., who have their hands and feet tied with anduka made from iron/ wood, who are in fetters, who are trapped, who are in dark cells, with hands, feet, ears, noses, lips, tongue; crest, mouth, waist/ belly, or the place (shoulder) wherefrom hangs the sacred thread/ who have been pierced like a sacred thread, the flesh of whose heart has been cut, whose eyes have been taken out of the socket, whose teeth have been removed, whose testacles have been cut. whose throat has been pierced, whose flesh has been cut to the size of a grain of rice, who have been fed with their own flesh or those who have been tied to the branch of a tree by their hands, who have been dragged on the ground, who have been crushed through a machine, who have been placed on the lance or who have just been peirced by the lance on which they were placed, or on whom alkali has been spread or who have been hurled into alkali, who have been wrapped in raw hide or whose male organ (penis) have been removed, or those who have died in fire, who have been drowned in mud, who have been bogged in mud, who have slipped from restraint, who have died from some hardship like hunger, who have died from pain of dependence in enjoyment of objects, who have died by being misguided by sound like a deer, who have died on sheer ignorance, who have died

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa without repentance, who have died by jumping from a mountain or crushed by a rock, who have died by falling from a tree or by the falling of tree, who have died for coming to an arid region, who have died by plunging from a mountain or from a tree, or who have died in the sand of a desert, or those who have died by entering into water, by walking into the fire, by administering poison, by piercing one's person with some weapon, by tying a rope round one's throat, by jumping into the sky from the branch of some tree, by entering into some carcass and thereafter being pecked by vultures, by dying in a forest or during a famine, if such people are not in misery at the time of death, then, by dying at some point in the eternal time, they are born in one or an other of the heavens occupied by the Vanavyantaras. Their entry in these heavens, their length of stay and their genesis have been stated. 87 Gautama Bhante! How long is their stay there? Mahavira Gautama! Twelve thousand years. : Gautama Bhante! Do these celestial beings possess fortune, glow, fame, strength, vigour, vitality and prowess? Mahavira Yes, they do. Gautama Bhante! Do they propitiate the next birth? Mahavira: No, they do not. Those human beings who live in villages, mines, towns, etc., etc., who are gentle by nature, who are tranquil by nature, who have little anger, pride, attachment and greed, who are tender, sheltered with their elders, polite, serving their parents, who never violate the words of their parents, with little hankering, little endeavour, little property, little slaughter, little torture, little slaughter-torture for the earning of their livelihood, if people live like this for many years, such ones, after death at some point in eternal time, are born in one of the heavens meant for the Vanavyantaras. : Gautama Bhante! How long is the span of their stay there? Women living in village, mines, towns, etc., etc., residing in the harem, whose men have gone out of the country, who have become widows in rather young age, who have been abandoned by their men, who are sheltered by their mothers, fathers or brothers, who are protected by the parental families or by the

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88 Lord Mahavira fathers-in-law's families, who have their nails, hairs and hairs of the armpits overgrown, who keep aside from flowers, essence, garlands and ornaments, who bear the hardship of non-bath, sweat, dust, dirt and mud, whose food does not contain milk, curd, butter, ghi, oil jaggery and salt, and also honey, alcohol and meat, whose accumulation is little, who commit little slaughter, who inflict little torture, who earn their livelihood from simple calling women who live contented like this (with their men whom they had once acquired, but never coveting the company of another),-till the length of their stay is sixtyfour thousand years. Those living in the villages, mines, towns, etc., etc., whose intake consists of two items including water or three items including water, or seven items including water, eleven items including water, or those who earn their liveli-hood by using the oxen, who observe vows about cattle, who are sincere househoders, who have devotion with humility, who believe in inactivity (a kiriyavadi) and who are brddha-sravakas (or who are tapasas and brahmanas), for such men the following items with a distorted taste, viz., milk, curd, butter, ghi, oil, jaggery, honey, wine and meat are prohibited, the only exception being mustard oil. Such men have few desires, the rest as before, the stay is stated to be sixty four thousand years. Those who are forest-dwelling Tapasa Monks living on the bank of the Ganga, such as the hotrkas, the such as the hotrkas, the clad ones, those who lie on the ground, those who perform sacrifice, those who are respectful those who keep vessels or kundika-holders, those who subsist on fruit, those who bathe by taking a dip in water, those who repeat the dips, those who remain under water for some time, those who clean their limbs by rubbing clay, those who live to the south of the Ganga, those who live to the north of the Ganga, those who take food after blowing a conch, those who take food on the bank of the river after making a sound, those who entice a deer, those who live long by subsisting on the carcass of an elephant, those who move about by holding high their stuff, those who sprinkle water in all directions before collecting fruits and flowers, those who are clad in bark, those who live in caves and crevices, those who make use of cloth, those who live inside water, those who remain at the root of the tree, those who subsist on water, on air, on moss, on root, on trunk, on bark, on

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 89 those who do not take food without bath, those who do not take food till their body is purified by bath, those who expose themselves to five fires and thus make themselves roasted on fire or duly fried, such men, after living for many years and after having attained that stage, die at a certain point in eternal time, to be born among the Jyotiska gods as divine persons. The span of their life is a hundred thousand years added to a palyopama. Those who are born as men in villages, etc., etc., and are initiated into the orders of monks of jesters, fools, talkers, songlovers, or dancers, such ones who live for many years in their respective orders and then without due confession (pratikramana) pass away, are born, on death at some point in eternal time, as the denizens of the first heaven, the Saudharma Kalpa, among the Kandarpika gods, the rest as before. The span of their stay there is a hundred thousand years added to a palyopama. And then the Parivrajakas who live in a hamlet etc. of their own, such as the following of Sankhya, Yoga, Kapila, Bhargava and many others living in mountain caves, hermitages, temples, etc., and visiting the villages for begging alms, the Paramahansas (living on the bank of the rivers or at places visited by others and having discarded their robes), the Bahudakas (living one night in some village and upto five nights in some township), the Kuticaras (who remain in the household but ever apart from anger, greed and attachment and reject pride) and the Krsna Parivrajakas (devotees of Narayana) including eight types of Brahmanas, such as Krsna, Karakanda, Amvada, Parasara, Krsan, Dvipayana, Devagupta and Narada, and eight types of Ksatriya Parivrajakas, viz., Silai, Sasihara, Naggai, Bhaggai, Videha, Rayaraya, Rayarama and Bala, who are versed in the four Vedas, the Rk, the Sama, the Yayur and the Atharva, the fifth history (Putana) and Geneology, of which they know the essence, of which they have reached the end, and of which they are upholders, who are experts in Siksa, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Chandra, Nirukta and Jyotisa, the six-fold Angas, the Sastitantra or Tantra, of Kapila, Ganita or knowledge of Numerals, the commentaries of the Vedas known as the Brahmanas, in which they are saturated. Who live on by making offers, by practising purity and taking holy dips, who impart these to others, who propound these saying "In this manner, we purify out body, our clothes, our practices

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90 Lord Mahavira and hence our soul. By taking ablution with water, we shall go to heaven without difficulty", who, if it is not on their way, do not go to a well, tank, river, pond (with lotus in or with constructed embankment), preserved tank, gunjalika, sea or ocean. Who do not take for a ride any type of vehicle, from ordinary carriage, till syandamanika, who do not witness any recreational programme, from natapreksa, till Magadhapreksa, who do not unite plants, nor rub, collect, raise or uproot. Who do not indulge in any unnecessary gossip about women, meal, country, king or thieves, who do not keep, apart from gourd, wooden and earthen pots, any other made from iron, bell-metal, lead, zinc, silver, gold, or any other which carries high value. Who do not use any pot with a chain of iron, bell-metal, copper, till any other which carries high value, who do not wear any cloth of any colour except saffron, who do not take, except a copper ring, any other necklace, ardhahara, ekavali, muktavali, kanakavali, ratnavali, murabi, kantha-murabi, pralamba, trisaraka, katisutra, ten rings, kataka, trutita, angada, keyura, kundala, crown or cudamani (ornaments decorating the body from head to foot). Who do not place on their body, except one on the ears made from flowers, any other ornament made from threaded flowers, or flowers wrapped together or flowers threaded in a thin stick or flowers whose stalks are entangled with one another, who do not rub their bodies, except with the Ganga clay, with any other, agaru, sandal or kumkum, who do not drink water more than a Magadha prasthaka (a weight), that too from a flowing steam, not a stagnant pool with a pure soil underneath, not with moss, absolutely clean, not dirty, passed through cloth, not otherwise, offered by some one, not usurped, just to drink, not to wash one's hands, feet, vessels, etc. not to bathe. Who are allowed to take half a Magadha adhaka water, that too from a flow, not a pool, till not ungiven, to wash one's hands, feet, vessles, etc., but not to drink nor to bathe. The Parivrajakas living like this, fully bearing this state for many a year, at a certain point in the eternal time are born again in Brahmaloka as celestial beings. Their span of stay there is as long as ten sagaropama. The rest as before. 12, Su. 38

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 91 In that period at that time, in the month of Jaistha during summer, seven hundred desciples of Ambada started from Kampilyapura to reach Purimatala walking on both the banks of the Ganga. Then the said Parivrajakas reached a certain part of a long forest, which had no village and where neither roving merchants nor wandering cattle halted to take rest. Being taken again and again at the outset, the water supply was exhausted. Their water supply being exhausted, and their being none within visibility who could replenish their supply, they called one another and spoke as follows : "Oh beloved of the gods! We have reached a certain part of this forest which has no village nor any halting station for roving merchants or wandering cattle, our water supply is exhausted. So, oh beloved of the gods! It is advisable that we in this village-less forest launch a search for some donor who may offer us water." Thus they heard from one another the same words repeated, and having heard, they launched a search for a donor of water in that village-less forest When they did not find anyone who could replenish their water supply, again they started talking among themselves which was as follows: "Oh beloved of the gods! There is no one here who could give us water. Our code does not permit us to accept water which is not offered not to use such water. Under these circumstances, even in this difficult time, let us not accept water, let us not use water. Then our vow will remain untransgressed. Oh beloved of the gods! It is advisable, therfore, that we discard at some lonely place our triple staff, water pot, rudraksa garland, earthen bowls, wooden seat, sannalaka, angle to pull down leaves to worship with, duster, copper ring, bangle, umbrella, sandals and our saffron cloth, cross through the Ganga or enter into the river, make use of sand as our bed, reduce our consciousness of body and other objects, give up our food and drink and stay with a tranquil mind, tree-like, devoid of movement, not desiring for death." By the words of the mouth, this decision reached everybody. Having heard this, they discarded the triple staff, etc. Having done so, they entered into the great river Ganga. They prepared their bed out of sand. They sat on it. They sat in the padmasana posture with their faces turned towards the east and submitted as follows

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.92 Lord Mahavira bed out of sand. They sat on it. They sat in the padmasana posture with their faces turned towards the east and submitted as follows with folded hands "Bow we to the Victor/Arihantas, till the Liberated souls. Bow we to Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira who is about to be liberated. Bow we to Parivrajaka Ambada, our spiritual master, spiritual guide. "Earlier, we had renounced for good to our spiritual master, Amvada, injury to living beings in general, falsehood in general, usurpation in general, but now we renounce for good all sex behaviour in general, accumulation in general. "Now to Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira we renounce injury to life in all respects, till all accumulation, all types of anger, pride, attachment, greed, malice, infight,...till the thorn of wrong faith, we renounce all activities not worth perpetrating we renounce all food, drink, dainties and delicacies, and that for good. "And this our body which is covetable, delicate, beautiful, worth loving, worthy of confidence, respected by many, dear as a casket of ornaments, this our body for which we have been ever-vigilant, lest it should be exposed to cold weather, to hot weather, it should suffer from hunger, from thirst, it should be troubled by the reptiles, it should be robbed by thieves, it should be bitten by the drones and mosquitos, it should be the victim of diseases, or it should be made to bear hardships and troubles inflicted by the gods, this our body we throw out by breathing the final breath." So saying, they gave up their consciousness of the physical existence, all sorts of food and drink and became motionless like a tree without coveting for death. The said Parivrajakas thus passed many a meal-time without food, and then having kept carefully apart from lapses and being in a totally tranquil state of mind, they passed away at certain point in the eternal time, to be born as celestial beings in Brahmaloka, with a span of stay as long as ten sagaropamas, with propitiation of life thereafter, the rest as before. 13, Su. 39 Gautama Bhante! Why do you say so? Mahavira Gautama! Because of his inherent humility, till politeness, because of his incessant fasting missing six meals at a time, because of his hard penance with hands raised skyward

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 93 tinges by dint of which he is able to exhaust and tranquilise his karma enshrounding extrasensory knowledge, to acquire knowledge to enquire and knowledge to stabilise, knowledge about the nature of things and about non-nature of things, and this gives him power to act with valour and to transform and with them, extra sensory knowledge, Amvada, in order to stupefy people, takes food from a hundred homes, till resides in a hundred homes. Hence I say, till in a hundred homes. Gautama : Bhante! Is it possible for Amvada Parivrajaka to get himself tonsured by thy hand, give up his home and join the order of monks? Mahavira : No, it is not. But, Gautama, Amvada Parivrajaka will be a worshipper of the Sramana path and live on enriching himself with the knowledge of soul and matter, and be without a home, etc. (applicable to a householder follower). Amvada is renounced of slaughter in general, falsehood in general, usurpation in general, sex in general and accumulation of property in general, speciality being that he is renounced of sex for life (being already a monk). Amvada does not accept food prepared by householder for self, prepared for a monk, prepared for householder and a monk, increased while cooking to make an offer to a monk, mixed with food prepared for self, purchased, borrowed, offered without the knowledge and permission of the master of the household, brought from elsewhere after the arrival of the monk, kept aside for self, especially prepared for self, prepared for intake while crossing through a forest, prepared for beggars, prepared for famine stricken, prepared for some relative to come, prepared for a patient and prepared for the poor during a cloudy day. Amvada does not eat roots, till seeds, nor enjoy, nor desire to get. For good Amvada has given up four types of activities leading to unnecessary harm, viz., wrong concentration of the mind, to fall a victim to delusion, to give to another a weapon to cause harm/slaughter and to counsel others to indulge in activities acquiring sin. Amvada accepts water no more than half a Magadha Adhaka, from a flow, not a pool, till passed through a piece of cloth, not otherwise, pure, not impure, which has life, but not non-life, that too offered, not unoffered, to wash and clean teeth, hands, feet,

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94 Lord Mahavira otherwise, pure, not impure, which has tife, but not non-life, that too offered, not unoffered, to wash and clean teeth, hands, feet, bowls, etc., and to drink, but not to bathe. Amvada accepts water as much as one Magadha Adhaka that too flowing, till offered to bathe, but not to wash, clean teeth, hands, feet, etc., nor to drink. Amvada does not court the company of the heretics nor worships their gods or their images, but worships only the Arihantas and their images. Gautama : Bhante! Amvada Parivrajaka, when he passes away, where will he go, where will he be reborn? Mahavira : Gautama! Amvada Parivrajaka will live like a monk in the Sramana order for many many years, practising vows, controls and restraints desisting from attachment, etc., renouncing, practising pratikramana and fasts. Then he will undertake a fast for a month, wholly concentrate in self, pass through sixty meal-time without intake, recall his lapses, recede from them, be in complete trance, and pass away at a certain point in eternal time and be born as a celestial being in Brahmaloka Kalpa. There, in that heaven, many a god live as long as ten sagaropamas, and Amvada will have a similar length of stay. Gautama : Bhante! When, after having lived there for the stated time, his stay there comes to an end and he descends, where will he go and where will he be reborn? Mahavira : Gautama! In Mahavideha, there are various lines which are prosperous, dignified and famous. They possess many mansions, couches and cushions, vehicles and carriers. They have no dearth of treasures and bullion. They make effective application of the means of earning more and more wealth. They prepare food and drink in such a huge quantity that after many are fed, the remnant is so profuse that many more may be fed. In that land, there is no dearth of valets and maids. They are rich in their possession of cattle wealth. He will be born in one of these lines. As soon as the boy enters into the mother's womb, his parents will be fully devoted to religion. Then on the completion of full nine months and seven and a half day-nights, till will be born a boy as graceful as the moon, dear and with a delightgiving look. Then on the first day after his birth, his parents will fulfil

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Personality of Lord Mahavira and his Sermon at Champa 95 rituals which are conventional to his line; on the second day, they will celebrate candra-surya-darsanika, and jagarika on the sixth day. On the completion of the eleventh day when the impurity of the house caused by the child birth is wiped clean, then, on the twelfth day, th.. parents will give him a name, they will think that since due to ine coming of the body we have acquired a firm resolve in religion, so let us name him Drdhapratijna (Firm in resolve). So they will name him like that. Then when the boy will complete his eighth years, on an auspicious day, with favourable stars shining, at a very auspicious moment, the parents will take the boy to the family preceptor. The said preceptor will impart to the boy the knowledge of many an art, the art of writing, the art of calculation, the art of omenreading and many others, the texts, their meaning and their applications. The 72 arts are as follows (1) Art of writing, (2) Mathematics, (3) Art of decoration, (4) Acting, (5) Singing, (6) To play with musical instruments, (7) To know breathing, (8) To play leather instruments, (9) To harmonise song and rhythm, (10) To play dice, (11) Art of conversation, (12) Art of throwing dice, (13) To play special kind of dice, (14) Art of protecting and administering a city, (15) Art of making utensils with earth and water, (16) Art of cultivation, (17) Art of making water, (18) Weaving, (19) Art of anointing body, (20) Art of arranging bed, (21) To write verse in Arya metre, (22) To write riddles, (23) To write verse in Magadhi metre, (24) To write gatha (verse) in Prakrit, (25) To compose songs, (26) To write Sloka or verse, (27) Art of making silver, (28) Art of making gold, (29) Art of preparing perfumes, (30) Art of preparing powder for charm, (31) Art of making ornaments, (32) Art of teaching maidens, (33) To know the types of women, (34) To know the types of men (35) To know the types of horses, (36) To know the types of elephant, (37) To know the types of cows, (38) To know the types of cocks, (39) To know the types of wheels, (40) To know the types of umbrella, (41) To know the types of leather, (42) To know the types of staffs, (43) To know the types of sword, (44) To know the types of jewels, (45) To know the types of kankini jewel of the Cakravarti, (46) Art of building construction, (47) Art of winning over enemies, (48) To

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96 Lord Mahavira know the area of a city, (49) To know how to utilise the building, (50) To know how to deploy the army, (51) To know the strength of the army, (52) To know wheel-type arrangement, (53) To know Garuda-type arrangement, (54) To know Vehicle-type arrangement, (55) Art of fighting, (56) Art of fighting on foot, (57) Art of fighting after throwing the sword, (58) Art of fighting with fists, (59) Art of fighting with hands, (60) Art of fighting like creeper by felling the enemy on the ground and sitting on his body (61) Art of throwing a snake-arrow, (62) Archery, (63) To know how to purify silver, (64) To know how to purify gold, (65) Art of walking on rope, (66) Art of string play, (67) Art of piercing the lotus stalk, (68) Art of piercing certain number of leaves out of 108 leaves, (69) Art of piercing bangle or ear-rings, (70) To bring to life a dead or an unconscious, (71) To make a living person look like dead, (72) Art of reading signs. .....

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JINAS AND AVTARS* - G. Parrinder The Victors & The Incarnated The Jains are an ancient and important, but small, religious minority in India, now numbering about a million and a half followers. Western historians have spoken of their religion as 'founded' by Vardhamana, Mahavira, an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha. But the Jains themselves regard Mahavira as the last of a long series of the Jinas of this era, of whom the first lived millions of years ago. It is said that there are twenty-four Jinas, and there is an easy comparison with the twenty-five Buddhas of the late Pali texts, and the twenty-two Avatars of the even later Bhagavata Purana. It seems likely that the Jain idea of twenty-four Jinas is the oldest, for it is common to their two major sects, the Digdambara and the Svetambara, which separated at leact by the early centuries before Christ. Although the belief in successive Jinas is closer to the Buddhist idea of successive Buddhas than to Hindu doctrines of Avatars, yet there are some interesting links with Hindu myths, particularly the Krishna cycle. Lives of the Twenty-four Jinas The Jain saints are called Jinas, 'conquerors', or Tirthankaras, 'ford-finders' or 'crossing-makers', those who have made a crossing over the waters of transmigration to find salvation in Nirvana. The earliest Jina was Rishabha of Kosala, who lived millions of years ago. His story is pure myth, and he is credited with famous * Avtar and Incarnation, Feber and Feber, London.

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98 Lord Mahavira teachings and inventions. Rishabha lived two million years as a prince and six millions as a king; he was the first kind, the first Jina, the first Tirthankara, and he also has the title Adhinatha, the "first protector'. For the benefit of his people he taught the seventytwo sciences, of which is the first and arithmetic the most important the hundred arts and the knowledge of omens. He taught men agriculture and trade, as well as the arts of painting, pottery, smithery and weaving; and he taught women dancing, singing, and the arts of love, which commentators on the sutras given in detail comparable to the Hindu Kama Sutra. Rishabha is mentioned in some Hindu texts. The Vishnu Purana says that he was a magnanimous king who, having ruled in equity and celebrated many sacrifices, adopted the life of an anchorite until emaciated by his austerities he put a pebble in his mouth, and naked went the way of all flesh. The Bhagavata Purana with more sectarian prejudice says that Rishabha will wander about naked in the dark Kali age so that men in great numbers will desert the proper rituals, revile Brahmins and the Vedas, and worship some of the Jain Arhats as divinites. * Twenty-three Jinas follow Rishabha in Jain tradition, and their names and details are recorded in the texts: their fathers and mothers, birthplaces, heights, colours, ages, emblems, places of Nirvana, and the interval elapsing before the next Jina. Like the successive Buddhas, they are much of a muchness. Heinrich Zimmer, in his study of the 'Philosophies of India', gave special attention to Parsva, the last Jina before Mahavira. Since he lived a modest two hundred and fifty years before Mahavira, and died at the age of a hundred, it is reasonable to suppose that Parsva may have been a historical personage. If traditional dating is accepted then he attained Nirvana in 772 B.C. But the story of his life, apart from different parentage, is too closely modelled on that of Mahavira to detain us here. As with the Buddhas, it is the life of the last in the series that serves as a model for the predecessors and has the most likelihood of containing historical elements. The life of Mahavira is sketched in the Achara-anga Sutra, the first of the Angas, the sacred books of the Svetambara Jains, and in more detail in the later Kalpa Sutra. Mahavira came down from the great Vimana heaven, which is like the lotus among

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Jinas and Avtars 99 flowers and like the swastika among celestial regions. He had lived there many years till the end of his alloted existence among the gods. He knew that he was to descend, and that he had descended, but he knew not as a child when he was descending. His father was a Brahmin named Rishabha-datta ('gift of Rishabha'), and his mother Devananda ('divine bliss'). Mahavira entered as an embryo into her womb, when the stars were in an auspicious conjunction. His mother saw fourteen lucky signs in her dream, and when she woke up she asked her husband what they could portend. He determined that she would bear a son, after nine months and seven and a half days. He would be a lovely boy, and would know the four Vedas and the Angas. The mother-tobe accepted this, and with her husband enjoyed 'the noble permitted pleasures of human nature'. So there is no virgin birth, immaculate conception, or aversion to sensual pleasure.4 Then comes a strange interlude. Sakra (Indra), the chief of the gods, was 'enjoying the permitted pleasure of divine nature, under the great din of uninterrupted story-telling', and looking down on the continent of India he saw Mahavira taking the form of an embryo in the womb of Devananda. The god rose up hastily in confusion, took off his shoes, threw his seamless robe over his left shoulder, and knelt on his right knee before the Jina. He revered the Tirthankaras, the lights of the world, the givers of life and knowledge, the liberated liberators, who have reached Nirvana, and Mahavira the last of them who was predicted by the former Tirthankaras. Sakra thought that Arhats should not be born in low or poor or Brahminical families, but in noble families like those of Ikshvaku or Hari (names found in the Gita). So he sent a soldier to remove the embryo and place it in the womb of a Kshatriya woman called Trisala, wife of Siddhartha (also the name of Gauttama Buddha). This was done while both women were asleep, unclean particles were removed, and the embryo was carried in the soldier's hands without harm. This curious story gives preference to the Kshatriyas over Brahmins, for both the Buddha and Mahavira were Kshatriyas who had numerous disputes, with the Hindu Brahmins. Some writers, like Zimmer, think that both Jainism and Buddhism represent a resurgence of old non-Aryan religioun. But it will be remembered that later Krishna stories said that the baby was On Viteco

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Lord Mahavira exchanged for a girl, to save him from the demon king Kamsa; but this was to put him among the cowherds and the whole context is different. 100 The Kshatriya mother Trisala then sees fourteen lucky signs in dreams, of which the first is a white elephant with four tusks, and the fourth is the beautiful goddess Sri, whose lovely body is described by the monkish writers at greatest length and with an attention to detail that even surpasses the Mahavastu description of Buddhas's mother, and is more reminiscent of the Song of Solomon. It is said that every mother of a Tirthankara sees these fourteen dreams, in the night in which the famous Arhat enters her womb. And when her husband calls the dream-interpreters they declare that when mothers have these fourteen great dreams their boy will be either a universal monarch, or a Jina who rules universally by Dharma. There are close parallels with Buddhist ideas. 5 The baby Mahavira did not move in his mother's womb, but when this stillness alarmed her he quivered a little. In the night of his birth there was a divine lustre, caused by many gods and goddesses descending and ascending. He was born at a fixed auspicious time, a perfectly healthy boy, and the mother perfectly healthy herself. His parents called him Vardhamana, but the gods gave him the name of Mahavira, 'great Hero'. The Acaranga Sutra says that Mahavira's parents were worshippers of the previous Jina, Parsva, and although they were Kshatriyas they were not rulers. For many years they followed the ascetic way, and finally rejected all food and fasted to death, thus getting rid of karma. They were reborn as gods and will eventually attain final Nirvana. Mahavira adopted the life of a householder, married Yasoda (Buddha's wife was Yasodhara), and had a daughter. The Kalpa Sutra says that while still in the womb Mahavira had vowed not to undertake the ascetic life during the life of his parents. But when they had gone to the world of the gods, with the permission of his elder brother and the authorities of the kingdom, he made the great renunciation. The gods praised him, saying: 'Best of Kshatriyas, establish the religion of Dharma, which benefits all living beings in the whole universe.' Sakra, king of the gods, produced by magic a gorgeous palanquin with a costly throne, and sat Mahavira in it while circumambulating him 6W

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101 Jinas and Avtars three times, and Sakra and Isana fanned him. Mahavira was carried to a park, and there under an asoka tree he put off all his clothes except one garment, and plucked out his hair in five handfuls, which Sakra caught in a diamond cup and carried to the Milk Ocean. For a year after his renunciation Mahavira wore one robe, and after that he walked about naked. The two chief Jain sects are the Digambaras, 'sky-clad', whose monks are naked, and the Svetambaras, 'white-clad', whose monks wear white robes and are found mainly in the colder northern parts of India. The alienation between the two sects goes back to the early days and is centred on the extremes of asceticism. The Digambara hold the uncompromising ideal of the Kevalin, the 'isolated monk. Not only do they reject the scriptures of their opponents, but they deny that Mahavira was married or was born by some divine gynaecology. Mahavira did not even eat or drink, and his body was simply kept alive by an influx of material particles. 6 The Sevetambara agree that for twelve years Mahavira neglected his body, and suffered hardships from nature and men with equanimity, exerting himself for the suppression of the defilements of karma. Some of the older texts tell of the many sorts of living beings which crawled about on his body causing pain. He meditated and did not answer those who saluted him, and so was beaten with sticks by sinful people. He saw women as 'the cause of all wicked acts'. He never washed or cleaned his teeth, and sometimes slept in gardens and sometimes in cemeteries. Dogs bit him and few people protected him, but in all things Mahavira sought to meditate, even if badly treated. So he committed no sin, nor consented to the sins of others. Killing no creatures, he begged his food. ? In the thirteenth year, on a river bank, under a Sal tree near an old temple (like the Buddha), after fasting two and a half days without drinking water, Mahavira attained the highest knowledge called Kevala (isolation or integration). He reached Nirvana, complete and free, and became a jina and an Arhat. He was omniscient and understood all things. He saw all the conditions of the world, of gods and men and demons; where they come from and where they go to, the thoughts of their minds and their secret deeds their births and rebirths as gods and demons. He taught

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102 Lord Mahavira Dharma, first to the gods and afterwards to men. Mahavira gathered around him many disciples, and at his death it is said, no doubt with pardonable exaggeration, that there were fourteen thousand monks, thirty-six thousand nuns, one hundred and fiftynine thousand lay votaries, and many more females, sages, professors and mighty ones. Mahavira lived seventy-two years in all, and when his karma was exhausted he died, freed from all pains. The death of Mahavira is clearly stated a number of times. In the town of Papa, near Patna, he quitted the world, cut as under the ties of birth, age and death. He became a Siddha (perfect), a Buddha, a Mukta (liberated), a maker of the end to all misery, free from all pains, and so he died. The night in which he died was lit up by many ascending and descending gods, and there was great confusion and noise. Krishna Parallels The story of Mahavira has been considered in some detail for its general interest for religious thought, its pattern for the lives of other jinas, and some of its parallels to the Krishna and Buddha stories. Some of the names are practically identical with some in the Buddha stories, and no doubt there was borrowing between these two powerful and contemporary religious movements. On the other hand there were many Indian ascetics and the patterns of their lives often had much in common. . Among the lists of Jinas there are several names that appear in the Krishna tradition. The twenty-second Jina, the one before Parsva, called Arishtanemi (or Neminatha), is described as the first cousin of Krishna, his father having been brother to Vasudeva, the. father of Krishna. This Jina, like Krishna, is always represented as black, and his emblem is the Vishnuite conch shell. But the Jains claim that he was superior to Krishna, physically and intellectually, and his rejection of luxury and adoption of asceticism show him to have been the opposite of Krishna, at least as depicted in the Puranas. However, he must be mythical, if one accepts the interval of eighty-four thousand years, which is supposed to separate him from the next Jina, Parsva. The Krishna mythology is particularly influential in Jain ideas of the cosmos. After the Jinas there are the temporal heroes, whose

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Jinas and Avtars 103 names and status often link up with non-Jain originals. There are world-emperors (chakravartin), and two heroic figures, halfbrothers, Vasudeva and Baladeva, who have been made into types. In the Kalpa Sutra the dream-interpreters tell the king that the mothers of Jinas or world-emperors wake up after seeing four- teen great dreams of conception, the mothers of Vasudevas awake after seeing seven great dreams, and the mothers of Baladevas awake after seeing four great dreams. In the Jain system of the ever-revolving wheel of time, in each half-circle there arise twenty-four Jinas, twelve worldemperors, nine Vasudevas, nine Baladevas, and smaller numbers of legislators. These appear in the continent of India, though it is assumed that a corresponding number also appears in the northern continent, and during the cycle of time the world either deteriorates or improves. The Vasudevas, like Krishna, ate dressed in yellow, have the sacred bird Garuda of Vishnu on their banners, and carry Vishnu's symbols of conch-shell, discus, club and sword. The Baladevas are dressed in dark robes, have the pahn tree as emblem and carry clubs, arrows and plowshares. 8 The names of these heroes are recounted, and their names in previous Eves, with those of their fathers and mothers, their teachers, their opponents, and the towns where they first resolved to enter on their present form of existence. These are given in popular verses, and show knowledge of the Mahabharata, as well as Jain invention. In the present series of these heroes the Vasudevas include the names of NirSyana (Vishnu), Puroshottama (Great Person), and Svayambhu (self-born). The Baladevas include Rama, who is probably the Balarama, brother of Krishna, and Pauma who is Rimachandra, the hero-avatar of the Ramayana. The opponents include Ravana, the demon enemy of the avatar Rama. The Epic story of Draupadi and her five Pandava husbands also occurs in the Jain Angas, and when she was abducted Vasudeva, defeated her captor and restored her to her husbands. In the cycle of ages the present period (Dushania) is evil and began three years after Mahavira reached Nirvana. No other Jina will appear in this epoch, and no Jain disciple can attain Nirvana now without at least one rebirth. But things will get worse and religion will disappear. An even more horrible period will

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104 Lord Mahavira follow in which the universe will be devastated, and would disappear but for the fact that it is eternal. But at last the wheel will turn and an upward revolution will begin, heralded by seven kinds of rain which will make seeds grow again on the earth. Then a new age will come, in which twenty-four new Tirthankaras will appear. So in fact the twenty-four Tirthankaras of our era are only a small part of an endless cycle of these exalted ones, who appear at irregular intervals to establish Dharma. This eschatology corresponds to Hindu and Buddhist ideas of the future. In predictions of the future Jinas there are several more names from the Krishna mythology. The first ten Jinas are named and the eleventh will be Devaki, the mother of Krishna who at present is working out her karma in the eighth world of the gods. The twelfth future Jina will be Krishna himself, under the name of Amama. The fourteenth jina will be' Krishna's brother, Baladeva, and the sixteenth is Y, Krishna's stepmother, Rohini 'the mother of Baladeva. The twentieth Jina will be another relative of Krishna, Kunika.9 These references, and others in recorded accounts of the mythology, show the great popularity of the Krishna cult, not only among Hindus but among Jains at the time when their scriptures were being compiled, in the early Christian centuries. There is no rejection of Hindu, myth, and the Avatars are adapted in some degree to the succession of Jinas. The Jinas are not only spiritual pioneers, but, like Avatars and Buddhas, they have become objects of devotion. Although in theory the Jinas have passed beyond worldly concern and cares for mortal beings, there are texts which show the religious impulse overcoming doctrine. In the lives of sixty-three famous men, by the great Jain teacher Hemachandra (died A.D. 1172), there are praises of the twenty-four Jinas by name and appeals are made for their help. 'May the blessed Abhinanda give great joy. ....May the blessed Lord Sumati grant your desires.... May the Jina Sitala protect you.... May Sreyamsa, the sight of whom is a physician for creatures, be for your emancipation....May the [blessed Lord Arishtanemi destroy your misfortunes. May the] Lord Parsvanatha be for your emancipation. May there be good fortune from Holy Vira's eyes, whose pupils are wide with compassion even for sinful people, moist with a trace of tears.' The last clause refers especially to Mahavira's known

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Jinas and Avtars 105 compassion, illustrated in a story of him taking pity on a god who had tried in vain to distract the Jina from meditation. There are further praises of the Tirthankaras, and prayers: 'Purify us, protect me, prepare liberation for us quickly, spread endless world; set my mind on Dharma, give me strength for the crossing of existence. Homage to you, compassionate one. 10 Jinas And Avatars A further Indian sect, contemporary with Jainism and Buddhism was that of the Ajivikas, whose history and doctrines have been pieced together by A.L. Basham. Much of what is known about them comes from Jain and Buddhist sources, which combated them as deterministic and extremely ascetic. Buddhist descriptions place three Ajivikas in the highest rank, but according to the Jain Bhagavati Sutra the Ajivikas believed in twenty four Tirthankaras, of whom their current teacher Gosala was the last. It seems unlikely that the Ajivikas, who believed in immensely long cycles of ages, would be content with only three Tirthankaras, and since their origins were close to the Jain they probably shared their belief in twenty-four." Mahavira among the Jains, and Gautama among the Buddhists, were the last of a long series. This showed that the Dharma was eternal, not invented by anybody. But in practice it was the present Jina and Buddha who was the pattern for all the rest, and so there is a unity under the apparent diversity, and a virtual uniqueness. So for the Ajivikas Gosala was treated with the greatest respect and was considered omniscient, and Basham speaks of his 'divine status' and the application to him of the word tevan, 'the God'. Yet their Tirthankaras were not so far removed from the Ajivikas as they were to the Jains; they appeared from time to time, as unexpectedly as the rainbow, and were believed to return to earth when their doctrine was in danger. It seems that at least one school of the Ajivikas believed in occasional Avatars, brilliant and sudden theophanies of a god, and they had an elaborate worship with costly ceremonies. The eventual decline and disappearance of the sect may have been due to the attraction of a number of its followers into the worship of Krishna The Tirthankaras of Jainism were not Avatars in the sense of incarnations of God in the world, as in Vaishnavism. The theory

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106 Lord Mahavira of a succession of twenty-four Jinas is parallel and perhaps previous to that of Avataras, but its basic assumptions are different. The parallel is really with the twenty-four Buddhas before Gautama, and Jainism probably provided the pattern for this late Buddhist theory, which, as we have seen, was first propounded as comprising seven Buddhas. Jainism is not humanistic, any more than Buddhism is. It does not teach self-salvation, but dependence upon a supernatural truth revealed the omniscient and adorable transcendent beings. However this could not guarantee long popular appeal. The Jains had considerable following for a time, and rich and powerful patrons, but Hinduism won back most of its converts by attacks on the intellectual and religious planes. Sankara attacked the Jain doctrine of the non-universality of the Self, and Ramanuja disputed the error of supposing that Being can originate from Non-being, quoting the Upanishads in his support. He criticized both Jains and Buddhists for refusing to philosophize and taking refuge in ambiguity, saying 'May be it is. May be it is not. May be it is and is not'.12 But the most serious opposition to Jainism and Buddhism in India came from the theistic religions, both Vaishnavite and Saivite. One of the great saivite teachers of south India, Sampantar, was said to have been born in answer to the prayer of his parents that he might win back those who had abandoned theism for Jainism and Buddhism, and sons of his followers call him an Avtar of one of the sons of Siva. Sampantar won back the king of counts to saivism, and with his younger contemporary Appar aroused many people in Tarnil country to bhakti devotion. At the same time the Vaishnavite poets, singing of the love manifested in the Avatars of Vishnu, reinforced the popular appeal of theism even further. Eventually Buddhism almost disappeared from India, and Jainism shrank to a mere million or so adherents, before the powerful Hindu Avatar faith and theism. 1. Kalpa Sutra, 21off.; A. Guerinot, La Religion Djaina, 1926, pp. 100f. Vishnu Purana, 2, 1. 2. 3. See the table of Jinas in J. Jaini, Outlines of Jainism, 1940, facing p.6 Kalpa Sutra, 1ff. 4. 5. Kalpa Sutra, 46, 73f. 6. W. Schubring, The Doctrine of the Jainas, trs. W. Beurlen, 1962, p. 61.

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Jinas and Avtars 107 7. 8. Acaranga Sutra 8, 14. The Doctrine of the Jainas, p.p. 18f. S. Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism, 1951, pp. 276. Trishastisalaka-purushacaritra, trs. H. M. Johnson, 1931, pp. 11. See my Worship in the World's Religions, 1961, pp. 66ff. A. L. Basham, History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas, 1951, pp. 275f. Vedanta-Sutras, with the Commentary of Ramanuja, pp. 514f. 11. 12.

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8 ON MAHAVIRA AND HIS PREDECESSORS* -Hermann Jacobi In the Indian Antiquary, vol. VIII, p. 311, a paper on the Six Tirthankas by Jomes d'Alwis was reproduced with notes by the editor. One of these heretical teachers, Nigantha Nataputta, has lately beome of great interest, as he has been identified become of great interest, as he has been identified with Mahavira, the supposed founder of the Jaina sect. The proof of this identity is conclusive. For the Buddhas and Jainas agree not only in the name of the sect, viz., Pali-Nigantha, Niggantha, Nigandha; sanskrit Nirgrantha, respectively; and in the name of the founder Pali-Nathaputta, Nataputta, Sanskrit,-Janatiputra, and Prakrit-- Nataputta, Nayaputta; Sanskrit-Janataputra, Jnatiputra respectively; but also on the place of Janataputra's death, the town Pava; see my edition of the Kalpasutra, pp. 4sqq. Yet there remain some anomalies in the forms of these names and some obscure points in the doctrines of the Niganthas as defined by the Bauddhas. To account for, and clear up, these is my purpose in the first part of this paper. The word Nigantha in Pali books, and Niyamtha in Jaina, Sutras (e.g. the Sutra kritanga and Bhagavati) are neither Pali nor Jaina, Prakrit. For its Sanskrit protoype, Nirgrantha, current with the Jainas and Northerb Buddhists, world in both dialects have regularly become Niggamtha, which form indeed, is the common one in Jaina Prakrit, but not so in Pali. The form Nigantha was almost certainly adopted by both sects from the Magadhi dialect; for it occurs in the Asoka inscription at Delhi, separate edict 1.5 *The Indian Antiquary, vol. ix, 1880.

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On Mahavira and His Predecessors (Ind. Ant. Vol. VI p.150 note). This hypothesis becomes a certainity for the word Nataputta. As translated in Sanskrit it is Jnatiputra, the regular Pali derivative, would be Nataputta with a palatal n. The dental in its stead is a Magadhism. For, in the Magadhi inscriptions of Asoka, we read nati, amna, etc. = Sanskrit jnati, anya, etc. which words become nati, anna, etc. in Pali and in the dialetcts of the Asoka inscription at Girnar and Kapurdigiri. The palatal n appears in Pali in the first part of the name when used as the name of the Kshatriya clan to which Mahavira belonged. For I identify the natika living near Kotigama mentioned in the Maharagga sutla (Oldenberg's edition p. 232), with the Jnataka Kshattriyas in Kundagrama of the Jaina books. As regards the vowel of the second syllable, the different sources are at variance with each other. The Northern Buddhists spell the word with an i, -Jnatiputrain Sanskrit, and Jo-thi-tseu in Chinese (tseu means 'sen'), the Southern ones with an a-Nataputta, as do the Jainas, though Jnatiputra is not unfrequent in MSS. The form Nayaputta proves nothing, for the syllables and are inter changeable in Jaina Prakrit. M. Eug. Burnouf, commenting on the name in question, says: "J" ignore pourquoi le Pali supprime l' i de Djancti seriat ce que le primitif veritable serait Djnati et que le Djnati en serait un prakritism, correspondant a celui du Sud nata, comme djeta corresponds a djetri?" That M. Burnouf was perfectly right in his conjecture, can now be proved beyond a doubt. For the occasional spelling of the word with a lingual t Nataputta shows an unmistakable trace of the original ri,. The Sanskrit for Nigantha Nataputta was therefore in all probability Nirgrantha Jnatriputra, that of the Kshattriya clan Jnatrika (Pali-Natika, Prakrit-Nayaga). It is perhaps not unworthly of remark that Nigantha. Nataputta must have made part of the most ancient tradition of the Buddhas, and cannot have been added to it in later times as both words conform not to the phonetic laws of the Pali language, but to those of the early Magadhi. We sahll now treat of the opinions which the Buddhists ascribe to Nataputta and to the Niganthas in general, in order to show that they are in accordance with Jainism. One of its most characterstic features is the unduly extended idea of the animate world; not only are plants and trees endowed with life, and accordingly are not to be want only destroyed, but also particles 109

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110 Lord Mahavira of earth, water, fire and wind. The same doctrine was, according to James D' Alwis, held by Nigantha Nataputta: "He held that it was sinful to drink cold water:-'cold water, he said, was imbued with a soul. Little dropes of water were small souls and large drops were large souls." In Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Dhammapadam (Fausboll's edition p. 398), the better Niganthas' who go about naked, say that they cover their almsbowls lest particles of dust or spray, imbued with life, should fall into them. Compare Kalpasutra, Samachari $ 29, where a similar rule is given. These naked Niganthas need not have been of the Digambara sect, for according to the Acharanga Sutra it was considered a meritorious, not a necessary, penance for an ascetic to wear no clothes. In the Magavajja Sutta, vi. 31, 1, Nigantha Nataputta is said to hold the kiriyavada opposed to the akiriyavada, or the belief in the cardinal dogmas of the Jinas, and is found in their creed in the first chapter of the Acharanga. James d'Alwis proceeds after the above quoted passage: "He [Nataputta] also declared that there were three dandas or agents for the commission of sin, and that the acts of the body (kaya), of the speech (vach), and of the mind (mana) were three separate causes, each acting independently of the other." Compare the subjoined passage from the third uddesaka of the Sthananja, in which the term danda in its relation to mind, speech and body occurs: iao demda pannatta, tam jaha: mana-damde, vaidamde kaya-damde. "There are declared three dandas, namely, the danda of the mind, the danda of the speech, the danda of the body." Thus far all agrees with Jainism. James d'Alwis's account of Nataputta's doctrines concludes: "This heretic asserted that crimes and virtues, happiness and misery, were fixed by fate, that as subject to these we cannot avoid them, and that the practice of the doctrines concludes : "This heretic asserted that crimes and virtues, happiness and misery, were fixed by fate, that as subject to these we cannot avoid them, and that the practice of the doctrine can in no way assist us. In this notion his heresy consisted." As the Jaina opinions on these points do not materially differ from those of the Hindus in general, and as the doctrines defined above are inconsistent with the kiriyauada and with ascetic practices. I do not doubt that the Buddhas committed an error, perhaps in

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On Mahavira and His Predecessors 111 order to stigmatise the Niganthas as heretics, who in their turn have mis-stated the Buddha doctrine of the nirvana, saying that according to the Saugata's opinion the liberated souls return to the Samsara (punarbhave'vataranti'). This misstatement occurs in Silanka's c 'mmentary on the Acharanga Sutra (867 A.D.), and can have no reference therefore to the Lamas and Chutuktus of the Northern Buddhist church, as I formerly opined, for they were not yet in existence in Silanka's time. We pass now to the outline of Nataputta's system in the Samannaphala Sutta, (Grimblot Sept Suttas Palis, p. 126). It may be remarked that, according to Mr. Rhys Davids (Acadmey, September 13th, 1879, p. 197) the passage in question is not commented upon in the Commentary Sumangala Vilasini. Mr. Gogerly translated it thus: "In this world, great king, the Niganthas are well defended in four directions, that is, great king, the Niganthas in the present world by general abstinence (from evil) restrain sinful propensities, weaken evil by controlling it, and are ever under self-government. They are thus well defended on all sides, and this is called-being arrived at perfection, being with subjected passions, being established in virtue" (ibidem, p. 173). All this might as easily have been translated from a Jina Sutra, and it would be difficult to tell the difference, but unfortunately this translation cannot be reconciled without text. M. Burnouf's translation is more literal, but less intelligible; it runs thus: "En ce monde, grand roi, le mendiant Nigantha est retenu par le frein de quatre abstentions reunies. Et comment, grand roi, le mendiant Nigantha est enterement retenu par le lien qui enchaine; il est enveloppe par tous les liens; voila de quelle maniere, grand roi, le mandiant Nigantha est retenu par le frein de quatre abstentions renies. Et parce qui toute chaine est detruite, qui a secone toutes les chaines," (ibidem, p. 204). And in a note he adds: "Mais quand la definition dit qu'il est enlace dans tous les liens, cela signifie qu'il obeit is completement aux regels d'uno rigoureuse abstention, qu'il semble que tous ses mouvements soient enchaines dans les liens qui le retiennent captif, & c." The general drift of this definition, especially the stress laid on control, savours of Jainism; but luckily we are not confined to such generalites for our deduction. For the phrase chaturyama. It is applied to the doctrine of Mahavira's predecessor Parsva, to distinguish it from the

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112 Lord Mahavira reformed creed of Mahavira, which is called panchayama dharma. The five yamas are the five great vows, mahavratani, as they are usually named, viz. ahimsa not killing, sunrita truthful speech, asteya not stealing, brahmacharya chastity, apariyraha renouncing of all illusory objects. In the chaturyama dharma of Mahavira brahmacharya was included in aparigraha. The most important passage is one of the Bhagavati (Weber, Fragment der Bhagavati, p. 185) where a dispute between Kalasa Vesiyaputta, a follower of Parsva (Pasavachchejja, i.e. Parsvapatyeya) and some disciples of Mahavira is described. It ends with Kalasa's begging permission: tujjham antie chatujjato dhammato pamchamahavvaiyam sapadikkamanam dhammam uvasampajjitta nam viharittae: "to stay with you after having changed the Law of the four vows for the Law of the five vows enjoining compulsory confession." In Silanka's Commentary on the Acharanga the same distinction is made between the chaturyamadharma of Parsva's followers and the panchayama dharma of Vardhamana's tirtha (Ed. Cal. p. 331). These particulars about the religion of the Jainas previous to the reforms of Mahavira are so matter-of-fact like, that it is impossible to deny that they may have been handed down by trustworthy tradition. Hence we must infer that Nirgranthas already existed previous to Mahavira-a result which we shall render more evident in the sequel by collateral proofs. On this supposition we can understand how the Buddhists ascribed to Nataputta the chaturyama dharma, though he altered just this tenet; for it is probable that the Buddhists ascribed the old Nirgrantha creed to Nataputta, who then took the lead of the community, and of whose reforms, being indeed only trifling, his opponents were not aware. And though it looks like a logical trick, the testimony of the Buddhist on this point might be brought forward as an argument for the existence of Nirgranthas previous to, and differing in details from, the Buddha of Mahavira. But we have not to rely on as dubious arguments as this for our proposition. The arguments that may be adduced from the Jaina Sutras in favour of the theory that Mahavira reformed an already existing religion, and did not find a new one, are briefly these, Mahavira plays a part wholly different from that of Buddha in the histories of their churches. His attainment to the highest knowledge cannot be compared to that of Buddha. The latter had to reject wrong beliefs and wrong

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On Mahavira and His Predecessors 113 practices before he found out the right belief and the right conduct. He seems to have carved out his own way, a fact which required much strength of character, and which is easily recognised in all Buddhist writings. But Mahavira went through the usual career of an ascetic; he seems never to have changed his opinions nor to have rejected religious practices, formerly adhered to. Only his knowledge increased, as in the progress of his penance the hindrances in the higher degrees of knowledge were destroyed until it became absolute (kevala). His doctrines are not spoken of in the Sutras as his discoveries, but as decreta or old established truths, pannattas. All this would be next to impossible if he had been like Buddha the original founder of his religion; but it is just what one would expect to be the record of a reformer's life and preaching. The record of the fourteen purvas points the sameway; for these books, which were lost some generations after Mahavira's Nirvana, are said to have existed since the time of the first Tirthankara Rishabha or Adinatha; they must therefore be considered as the sacred books of the original Nirgranthas previous to Mahavira's reforms. But all these arguments are open to one fatal objection, viz., that they are taken from the Jaina literature which was reduced to writing so late as the fifth century A.D. During the preceding ten centuries, an opponent will say, the Jainas melloled everything in their sacred books on the preconceived theory of the uninterrupted existanct of their faith since the beginning of the world. On this supposition the whole of the world be a most wonderful fabric of world; for everything is in keeping with the theory in question, and no trace of the contrary left. I place much confidence therefore in the Jaina Sutras, being of opinion that they are siaterially the same as they were in the early centuries after Mahavira's Nirvana, as may be proved to be the case with the Acharanga, the present disposition of which is already followed in Bhadrabahu's Niryukti. Yet we must confirm the above suggested opinions by evidence from another quarter, open to no objection. If the sects of the Buddhas and Jainas were of equal antiquity, as must be assumed on the supposition that Buddha and Mahavira were contemporaries and the founder of their sects, we should expect either sect mentioned in the books of their opponents. But this is not the case. The Nirgranthas are frequently mentioned by the Buddhists, even in the oldest parts

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114 Lord Mahavira of the Pitakas. But I have not yet met with a distinct mention of the Buddhas in any of the old Jaina Sutras, though they contain lengthy legends about Jamali, Gosala and other heterodox teachers. If follows that the Nirgranthas were considered by the Buddhas an important sect, whilst the Nirgranthas could ignore their adversaries. As this is just the reverse position to that which both sects mutually occupy in all after-times, and as it is inconsistent with out assumption of a contemporaneous origin of both creeds, we are driven to the conclusion that the Nirgranthas were not a newly-founded sect in Buddha's time. This seems to have been the opinion of the authors of the Pitakas too: for we find no indication of the contrary in them. In James d'Alwis' paper on the Six Tirthankaras, the "Digambaras" appear to have been regarded as an old order of asceties, and all of those heretical teachers betray the influence of Jainism in their doctrines or religious practices, as we shall now point out. Gosala Makkhaliputta was the slave of a nobleman. His master from whom he ran away, "pursued him and seized him by his garments; but they loosening Gosala effected his escape naked. In this state he entered a city, and passed for Digambara Jaina or Buddha, and founded the sect which was named after him." According to the Jainas he was originally a disciple of Mahavira, but afterwards set himself up for a Tirthankara. In the Mahauiracharitra of Hemachandra, he defends the precept of nakedness against the pupils of Parsva, and "gets beaten, and almost killed by the women of a village in Magadha, because he is a naked Sramana, or mendicant." _Wilson, Works, vol. 1. p. 294, note 2. Purana Kasyapa declined accepting clothes "thinking that as a Digambara he would be better respected." Ajita Kesakambala believed trees and shrubs to have a jica, and that "one who cut down a tree, or destroyed a creeper, was guilty and a murderer." Kakudha Katyayana also "declared that cold water was imbued with a soul." The preceding four Tirthankaras appear all to have adopted some or other doctrines or practices which make part of the Jaina system, probably from the Jainas themselves. More difficult is the case with Sanjaya Belatthaputta. For the account of his doctrines

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On Mahavira and His Predecessors 115 in the Samannaphala sutta has been so differently translated by M. Burnouf and by M. Gogerly as to suspend decision. According to the former Sanjay's doctrine, which is called anattamanavacha, would coincide with the Syadvada of the Jainas; but according to the latter it denotes no more than perfect indifference to all transcendental problems, not the compatibility of one solution, with its contrary. All depends on the interpretation of the two words me no in the text, about which it is impossible to form a correct opinion without the help of a commentary. It appears from the preceding remarks that Jaina ideas and practices must have been current at the time of Mahavira and independently of him. This, combined with the other arguments which we have adduced, leads us to the opinion that the Nirgranthas were really in existence long before Mahavira, who was the reformer of the already existing sect. This granted, it is not difficult to form a tolerably correct idea of the relation between Buddhism and Jainism. The former is not an offshoot of the latter; for Buddha rejected the principal dogmas and practices of the Nirgranthas; it is rather a protest against it. All that has been said to maintain that Buddhism stands in a closer connection with Jainism, is to no effect from lack of proof. The proposed identification of Mahavira's disciple, the Gautama Indrabhuti with the Gautama Sakyamuni, because both belonged to the gotra of Gotama, has been refuted by Profs. Wilson, Weber and others. it can only be maintained on the principles of Fluellen's logic: "There is a river in Macedon; and there is also, moreover, a river in Monmouth. It is called Wye at Monmouth, but is out of my brains what is the name of the other river. But' tis all one : it is so like as my fingers to my fingers; and there is salmons in both." "" Little better is the second argument, that there were twentyfour Buddhas who immediately preceded Gautama Buddha. These twenty-four Buddhas have been compared with the twentyfour Tirthankaras of the Jainas, though their names have little in common. As Buddhas rejected the last Tirthankara at least as an heretic he could only have recognised twenty-three. The only inference which can be made from the twenty-four Tirthankaras and twenty-five Buddhas in texts of recognised authority is that the fiction in question is an old one. Whether there be any foundation for this Buddhistical theory, it is not for me to decide;

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116 Lord Mahavira all authorities on Buddhism have given their verdict to the contrary. But it is different with the Jainas. For, since, we know that Jainism was not founded by Mahavira, it follows that somebodyelse was the real founder of the sect, and it is possible that many reformers preceded Mahavira. It is the opinion of nearly all scholars who have written on this question that Parsva was the real founder of Jainism. The Rev. Dr. Stevenson says in his Preface to the Translation of the Kalpasutra, p. xii: "From Mahavira upwards, indeed, to the preceding Tirthankara Parsvanath; we have no list of head teachers, but we have only an interval of 250 years, while the term of Parsva's sublunary existence is still bounded by the possible number of a hundred years ...... The moderation of the Jains, up to the time of Parsavanatha, is the more remarkable as after that they far outstrip all their compeers in the race of absurdity, making the lives of their Tirthankars extend to thousands of years, and interposing between them countless ages, thus enabling us to trace with some confidence the boundary between the historical and the fabulous." Whatever many thought of this argument, it is at least favourable to the opinion that Parsva is an historical person. This is rendered still more credible by the distinct mention of his followers and his doctrines in the Jaina Sutras. That self-same doctrine, the chaturyama dharma, is mentioned by the Buddhists though ascribed to Nataputta. But there is nothing to prove that Parsva was the founder of Jainism. Jaina tradition is unanimous in making Rishabha the first Tirthankara. Though he is stated to have lived 840,000 great years, and have died something less than 100,000,000 oceans of years before Mahavira's Nirvana, yet there may be something historical in the tradition which makes him the first Tirthankara. For the Brahmans-too, have myths in their Puranas about a Rishabha, son of king Nabhi and Meru, who had a hundred sons, Bharata and the rest, and entrusting Bharata with the government of his kingdon, adopted the life of ananchorite-Wilson, Vishnu Purana, vol. II., p. 103 sqq. All these particulars are also related by the Jainas of their Rishabha; and from the more detailed account in the Bhagarata Purana it is evident that the fabulous founder of the Jaina sect must indeed be meant (ibid, p. 104, note 1). But what value belongs to these myths of the Puranas

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On Mahavira and His Predecessors 117 about Rishabha, whether they are founded on facts, or were merely suggested by the legendary history of the Jainas, it is wholly impossible to decide. Of the remaining Tirthankaras I have little to add. Sumati, the fifth Tirthankara, is apparently identical with Bharata's son Sumati, of whom it is said in the Bhagavata that he "will be irreligiously worshipped, by some infidels, as a divinity" (Wilson, ibid). Arishtanemi, the 22nd Tirthankara is connected with the Krishna-myths through his wife Ragimati, daughter of Ugrasena. But we must close our researches here, content to have obtained few glimpses into the prehistorical development of Jainism. The last point which we can perceive is Parsva; beyond him all is lost in the mist of fable and fiction.

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9 THE PREDECESSORS OF LORD MAHAVIRA -N.R. Guseva Many scholars consider or agree that Jainism constituted a reformatory movement in Brahmanism and that it is organically connected with it, as a sect happens to be connected with the religion giving birth to it. It is difficult to accept 'disappointment of the Hindus' as a historical reason for the rise of new religion in the first millennium B.C. The conception of "Brahmanism" includes first of all the dictates of Brahmins in the sphere of ideology. While vedic hymns reflect a pattern of social relation in which the head of the family is invested with the right of performing sacrifice and turning to God with his entreaties now, in the period of Brahmanism all religious functions were concentrated gradually in the hands of the Brahmins. The word 'Brahmin' came to signify priest (The Brahmin), worldly spirit, prayer, and, then also books Brahmanas) which were commentaries on vedas, i.e. everything which was connected only, with the religious thinking, and ritual functions performed by members of the Brahmin caste. All the written sources and oral traditions preserve the testimony (evidence) of enmity of the Brahmins with the kshatriyas, and the conception of the reformatory dogmas is usually connected with the kshatriyas (in particular, Jainism is named gradually as a kshatriyas religion). Despite this word kshatriyas is understood to mean the martial caste of Indian class society. Here it is appropriate to pose the question: Did the word 'kshatriya' always have only that meaning? The word 'kshatri' from which the world kshatriya was formed latter, signifies in sanskrit, 'killer', 'cutter', 'distributor' from

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 119 the stem 'kshad' to kill, to carve meat, to divide, to distribute food and also means charioteer, driver of the harness. The word 'kshatra' signifies strength, might, power, domination. Is it not proper to conclude from this that the head of each communefamily group was known sometime by the name of kshatri? It is possible that this designation already existed during the stage of hunting economy; amongst the shepherds' patriarchal tribes, those males of the tribe who headed the family-kin (tribal) groups were precisely called kshatri. It is also possible that not only the heads of these groups but all the males of the tribes in general, each of whom can potentially head the family-kin group were called kshatri. Probably all these kshatris were not always and necessarily converted into members of the kshatriya soldier caste. Growth of the settled way of life, development of agriculture and trade, division of traders-all this required specialisation of economic activity and at this stage, from the pre-vedic kshatri not only the warrior-caste was formed but also other groups of population, out of which later, in the developed class society, caste of kshatriya-traders, kshatriya-farmers, kshatriya-handicraftsmen etc., were also formed. In those times, the word 'kshatri' must have stood as a synonym of the name Arya of Aryan, since kshatriya martial caste did not exist in the period when Aryan tribes were roaming from place to place in the near Caspian regions and in Central Asia. The kshatri was that social environment, out of which a military apex grew. This apex was the future military aristocracy, that kshatriya caste, which is very widely known in the Indian history. It was the caste of agriculturists, trainers and handicraftsmen, who were the male kshatriyas of preclass society in the epoch of further division of work. The first Aryan colonisers who were isolated from the main mass of their own people and who had left from the caste were compelled to adopt themselves to that culture and that ethnical environment in which they found themselves. These original conditions, which were taking shape in the eastern part of the Gangetic plains were the most important factor, ensuring extensive development of new religious teachings, in particular of Jainism and Buddhism, in the middle of the first millennium B. C. The republic Janapadas of the eastern regions, as also the republics, which were existing in other regions of India are widely

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120 Lord Mahavira known as kshatriya republics in the Indological literature. Here, on the territory of modern Bihar and the eastern regions of the state of Uttar Pradesh, republics of shakkya; koliya; Lichchavi (vaishali), videha, Bhana, Bali, Malia, Mauriya etc., were situated. It is known that marriages frequently took place between kshatriyas and especially kshatriyas from solar dynasty-and the women from the local peoples. It is also known that towards the middle of the first millennium B.C. (and possibly also earlier) the category of so-called vratya-kshatriyas i.e. kshatriyas by -vow, which means not by birth-existed in the east. Many a scholar assumes that those were the kshatriyas who were the local chiefs and heads of kinships whom the Aryan kshatriyas were compelled to acknowledge as members of their own caste, according to the diplomatic consideration of those times. The result of the developing caste-class relations and the division into the caste of priests-Brahmins was the formation of caste-structure and further with this, elevation by the Brahmins of prohibitions and limitations to the level of religious dogmas. This divided the people into castes and prohibited transfer from the lower castes into the higher. Hence Brahmanism, invariably attended by caste structure and by the demand of assigning high postion to Brahmins in the society and showing them limitless respect, started spreading in the whole of India. The spiritual domination of the kshatri, the patriarch of the family-kin groups in the past and the independent position of the kshatriya warrior in military-democratic republics, later on, was replaced by their dependence on Brahmins, not only in the religious-cultural matters but also in the affairs of State administration, in the questions of war and peace, in the distribution of surplus products, in a word, on all the aspects of social and productive life. All around, one of the main demands of the Brahmins was the demand of generous offerings to Gods and liberal gifts to themselves. The offering to Gods were to consist mainly of cattlesometimes thousands of cattle, sheep and goats were driven out for offerings. Horses which were rare animals in India in those days were also driven out for offerings. Huge number of poultry was also chopped off. The whole ritual of worship was made complicated to the extreme by the Brahmins and the role of the sacrifices and the prayer was reduced to obediently repeating after

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 121 the Brahmins the unintelligible prayer-formulas and to make mechanically certain gestures and movements according to the instructions of the Brahmins (which can be presently seen in contemporary India during performance of Puja-prayer offering ceremony). As distinct from the monarchies in the republic Ganas, administered by the kshatriya aristocracy, the struggle against the growing power of the Brahmins was specially intensive. It was such a powerful and a sharp struggle that many Brahmins did not at once become exclusive categories, they remained more as soldiers, heads of the patriarchal kind and then professional holy priests. The function of holy priests, warrior and mentor of the youth, combined in one person the kindred gana, did not at once get divided between various social groups and hence Brahminwarrior in that transitional period was a strong and influential figure (for example) Drona in Mahabharat, mentor of young heroes of the epic or Vishwamitra, Parashuram and other Brahminwarriors, widely known in the history of Indian culture. The struggle of kshatriyas with Brahmins in the north west religions, in the centre of the intensive process of class-formation of Aryan society and of the birth of monarchy did not undermine the influence of Brahmins and could not give birth to some-what influential anti-Brahmin ideology. On the borders of region where Brahmanism was spreading itself, in particular in the north-east, the kshatriya freemen did not easily give up their own position. Here, in the conditions of the existence of republics, population of which consisted mainly of local peoples, the struggle with Brahmanism assumed a sharp and prolonged character. It was inevitably to take the form of struggle against the expansion of the much later Aryan mass and simultaneously struggle for the preservation of kin tribal or republican structure, of any character. It is important for us to note that historical condition for the formation and consolidation of slave-owning process took shape in the first half of the millennium B.C. The slave-owning process which, irrespective of the extent of ripening of feudalism in that period fell first of all as a heavy burden on the shoulders of the conquered local people. These people in their basic mass, excluding their chiefs, military apex and votaries were taken by the Brahmanised Aryans as shudras-the lowest caste of the society.

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122 Lord Mahavira Indignation of local peoples as a result of the forcible assimilation and enslavement could very easily find its expression in the republics, where, moreover, were preserved the strongest survivals of commune-kin relations. Precisely in the north-eastern regions, not only caste-class struggle took place but also ethnical movements, directed against the march of the Aryan masses. And precisely here, on the borders of the world of the Brahmins, new, anti Brahmanic faiths were to become the ideological banner of this struggle and these movements. From the pattern of the legend about Krishna, who after seizing the throne became the head of the ruling kshatriya kin and later became famous as the greatest of kshatriyas, it is clearly seen how non-aryan warriors and leaders could have historically been reckoned and were undoubtedly reckoned in the caste of kshatriyas and how the inclusion of local cults in the system of Brahmanism came about. Krishnaism as a form of Bhagvatism is nearer Jainism in its origin and undoubtedly exercised its influence on this religion. There are at least eight features which distinguish Jainism from vedic religion and Brahmanism. Those features are so much substantial that they do not afford any possibility of regarding Jainism as a sect of Brahmanism or its some other product. These features can be reduced to the following: (1) Jainism rejects holiness of veda. (2) Stands against the dogma that gods are the main objects of worship. (3) Rejects bloody sacrifices and a number of other elements of Brahmanic ritual. (4) (5) Prescribes defence of other's life. SS (6) Prescribes asceticism. (7) (8) Does not recognise varna-caste system of the Brahmanic society. Prescribes nudity at the time of ritual. Allows women monkhood, learning of holy books etc. The philosophy of Upanishadas rendered significant influence on Jainism (as also on Buddhism and Bhagvatism). It.is not accidental that the philosophy of Upanishadas is called the $ Jainism forbids active attempt to defend life. It emphasises subjective non-injury.

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 123 philosophy of kshatriyas by research-scholars in the course of many years. And it is probable that precisely as a result of its proximity to the kshatriya ideology, the Upanishadas had much in common with Jainism. According to legends of the Jains their religion in ancient time had spread over the whole of India, and all of them were kshatriyas. According to another legend, Devananda, a Brahmin women should have given, birth to Mahavir Jina (founder of Jainism in that form in which this religion has come down to us) but the embryo had been transferred to the bosom of Trisala, a kshatriya women, since Mahavira was not to receive life from Brahmins or from the members of the lower castes. (Can there be anything more characteristic in India than this showing repulsion towards Brahmins?) Research scholars of the philosophy of Hinduism emphasise that it was precisely kshatriyas who introduced in this philosophy the conceptions known by the name of atma-vidya and moksha-dharma. Ancient Indian literature contains indications of the deep antiquity of the sources of Jainism and it also indicates that the kshatriyas and ascetics from vratyas i.e. non-Aryans played noticeable role in establishing non-vedic teachings. Alluding to the fact that monks-shramana (and more ancient name of Jainism and Jain monks is precisely shramana) are referred to in Rigveda, in Taitiriya-aranyka and in Bhagvat-purana and also alluding to the fact that the word 'muni' though rarely so in the works of vedic literature meant in antiquity an asceitic-hermit of non- vedic tradition, several, authors contend that during the time when Vedas were taking shape, a number of elements which had entered subsequently in Jain religion were already known. This is confirmed by the fact, that monks are called arhanas or arbatas in Rigveda and Atharvaveda i.e. by the word which is invariably applied in Jain tradition for the designation of great teachers and preachers of this religion. Vratya-khanda-part of Atharvaveda-glorifies learned asceticvratya i.e. ascetic-non-brahmin, who came superior to vedic gods, had subdued four countries of the world and by his breath had given birth to the whole world. In those times, followers of Jainism were, in the main, representatives of pri-Aryan population of the country. Many contemporary research scholars have also

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124 Lord Mahavira come to the conclusion that the roots of Jainism are significantly more ancient than the middle of the first millennium B.C. One of the contemporary leaders of Jain community, Sanskritologist Acharya Shri Tulsi finds confirmation in the four puranas, of his opinions that the Asuras were not only non-vedic i.e. non-Aryan people but they were the priests of Jain religion. He also considers that the pose of Yogasana, in which several human figures are drawn on the seals of Mohenjodaro was worked out by the Jains, was widely known in pre-Aryan India and was borrowed much later by the Hindu ascetics. The description in one of the sections of the canonical literature of Jains Naiyadhamakahao', of the marriage of the heroine of Mahabharat, Draupadi with five brothers-the Pandavasas a polyandrical marriage which Draupadhi performs bully consciously, serves as an interesting testimony of the deep antiquity of the Jain religion and the cultural-historical tradition of Jainism. In this work it is shown that the girl accepts the five brothers as husbands voluntarily and according to her desire such a description is important for us for two reasons. Firstly, it clearly relates to that epoch, when polyandrical-marriage were not prohibited, were not disreputable. It bears more ancient character in comparison to mahabharat itself and all the subsequent literature, developing and explaining these and other episodes of this epic, since in all these works attempts are invariably made as if to make apologies for the very fact of this marriage, to legalise, to elucidate, or to ascribe external reasons for this form of marriage, which was not acceptable to the Aryan society of the epoch of formation of Mahabharat and was denounced by the social opinion, religious canons and the code of rights. Secondly, it shows Jains did not denounce polyandrical marriage. This again gives ground to connect Jainism with that ethnical environment, in which such a marriage was the norm of family relations i.e. it was possible with the Dravidian tribes, amongst whom, even at present, strong suvivals of polyandry exist. It is worthwhile turning attention to the Swastik signs, seen on the seals of cultures of Mohen-jo-daro and Harappa, and which are common in the symbols of Jainism. Swastik is the symbolic of the 7th priest (Tirthankar) Suparshva (the Jains consider that there were 23 Tirthankaras before Mahavira) and the middle part forms

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 125 the signs of the 18th Tirthankara Era. While agreeing that the sources of Jainisms arose in non-Aryan environment and the kshatriyas (Aryans as well as vratyas) played a significant role in forming new faiths, we can not all the same, explain to which people these vratya-kshatriyas belonged to-Mundas or to Dravids, Tibetain, Burn ese or to Monkhmerese. The ethnical map of the settlement of tiese people in ancient India is not yet made. Several research scholars assume that the kinds of saudyumna and satadyumna, referred to in the genealogical lists of Puranas orginated from the Mundas. The culture of the hidden copper treasure and yellow ceramics, the contemporary civilisation of the valley of Indus, which is widely known at present and referred to in every work on the ancient history of India, was also quite possibly created by the ancestors of the Mundas. The bearers of the 'culture of hidden copper treasure probably did not have the custom of mass-offering of cattle in sacrifice to the deities and expressed indignation at these bloody killings of hundreds of domesticated animals in the name of Aryan gods. Apparently, this practice was not prevailing amongst the Dravidians, since in the very early works of south Indian literature, coming down to us (in Tamilian epics of the beginning of our era) this practice is not reflected. The indignation at sacrificial offerings must have been very deep, because the Aryans did not offer in sacrifice only cattleherds but the representatives of local people-such cases are repeatedly described in Mahabharat, where these people are referred to as Nagas (serpents), Rakshasas (demons) etc. In the ancient texts in pali language it is indicated precisely that Brahmins practised Purushmedh i.e sacrificial offerings in the form of human beings. Prescription of strict vegetarianism, which is one of the principles of Jain ethics developed in all probability in non-Aryan environments. Vegetarianism could not have been natural to the, ancient Aryans, if only due to climatic conditions of those countries from where they came to India (also vedas do not give us any ground to affirm that vegetarianism was prevalent with cattlebreeders-Aryans'. But in the climate conditions of India, full or partial abstention from meat as food is singularly possible to imagine and that is why it is natural to assume that the first Aryan new-comers living in India, possibly several centuries before the

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126 Lord Mahavira arrival here of basic waves of tribes of their kinsmen adopted from the local population the custom of vegetarianism, which occupied a very important place also in the syncretic faith of Jainism. The Asuras attract much attention from amongst pre-Aryan peoples of India, who have left behind a noticeable trace of complex, syncretic faiths, which had developed in Bihar. The were apparently numerous people or more probably a big group of tribes, settled in the north and east of India and undoubtedly under went forced assimilation with the Aryans coming on their soil. The resistance of Asurasas also of other local peoples to this assimilation served as the greatest reason for the formation of anti-Brahmanic, reformatory faiths in Bihar. Asuras, who were related possibly to the Munda people lived in closed contact with the Aryans, who had come before although it is fully possible to assume that these contacts started with the Aryans bringing the Asuras for offerings to their own gods. In Bihar before the arrival of the Aryans, worship of funeral structures was developed. The Aryans did not adopt this custom but in the ancient Jainism, this custom was one of its essential component parts. This is a clear illustration of how actively new religions, arising in eastern Gangetic regions absorbed local tribal ways of worship. In Gaya and nearby, worship of trees which is also an indigenous cult of many local peoples, the Asuras, Birhores, Oraones, Mundas, Gonds, and others is highly developed. This cult is part and parcel of Jainism and Buddhism. It is considered that Mahavira Jina secured 'enlightenment while sitting under the Ashoka tree, and Buddha under the boor nim tree. Worship of yakshas-wicked and kind spirits inflicting diseases and also driving them away, sometimes saving men's lives in the forest and sometimes destroying them-existed in ancient Bihar. Such animist representations, characteristic of the cults of all local people occupy an important place in the philosophy of Jainism.; Is it possible to speak with certainty that the Asuras were the bearers of the ancient forms of Jainism as is done by Acharya Tulsi ? Probably it is more correct to say that the cults of the Asuras entered into Jainism. The word 'Asuras' is used by the Jains themselves in a sense close to the brahmanic sense i.e. as meaning the spirits of the dead wicked people but more requently are called retinue of

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 127 Tithankaras i.e. an honourable place is given to them. It is possible that the other autochronic people the Bhils who had also widely settled in ancient India practised the cults which were one of the component parts of Jainism. A viewpoint exists in ethnography that the Bhils at one time spoke one of the Munda languages. It is considered that Nishadas, always referred to in the Epic, Puranas and other works of ancient literature were Bhils. According to the genealogical lists contained in the Puranas a ruler by name Nishadha (who must be understood as ethnonym) originated from Vena whom the priests killed because he restricted their power. Thus, if Bhils-Nishads-Sudyumnas can be recognised as Mundas then precisely the faiths of this central and eastern India mass of tribes of Mundas must have played a significant role in the formation of Jainism. Ethnography has not as yet established whether Dravidians also lived in Bihar in those ancient times. Many scholars assume that precisely Dravidians formed the chief mass of the settlements of the Indus valley in the most ancient period. Judging from the legends of the Jains themselves, their religion had sometimes spread beyond the borders of India, towards its West. It is interesting to note in this connection that the elements of Dravidian Languages are traced back to the ancient languages of eastern shores of Africa, in several Mediterranean languages and the language of the countries of Near East. There is evidence that ancestors of the strongest contemporary Dravidian people-Andhras-lived in antiquity from the shores of Jamuna to eastern Bihar and that only from the sixth century B.C. they started to move forwards towards the south. If it is recognised that the Dravidians lived in North India, then undoubtedly their cults also must have served as sources of Jain-cult-notions and rites. While describing the ethnical map of ancient India, it is worthwhile dwelling on the Naga people (who are called people of serpents) referred to in the Vedic and Epic literature. Judging from the assumption that these people lived also in the region of Mathura, and along the Ganges, this was probably a big group of tribes in whose cult serpents occupied a prominent place. It is also known that in the middle of first century B.C. Rajagriha or Rajgir (in modern Bihar there is a town with this name), the capital

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128 Lord Mahavira of Magadha, was the centre of worship of serpents of the cult of Naga people (or more probably Naga people). The Aryans fought and also tried to assimilate the Nagas as also other authoritarian of India. Instances of marriages of Aryan rulers with Naga women are quite well-known. For example, the marriage of Arjun, one of the Pandavas with Ulupi, the daughter of the ruler of Nagas is described in Mahabharat. At the same time there are also descriptions in the works of ancient Indian literature of how the Aryans offered Nagas as sacrifices, burning them alive and how they fought with them with all the means at their disposal. And although the Nagas are called partly snakes and partly half-human beings i.e. semi mythical beings in the much later editions of these works, the fact that the Aryans had fought mercilessly against the local people, whom main cult was the cult of serpents is perfectly apparent. In view of the fact that this cult stands hitherto highly developed amongst the Dravidians, and also amongst Bhils and Mundas, it is possible to assume that the Aryans called all the local population with which or with a significant part of which they came into collision in India, as Nagas. It is therefore not accidental that the symbol of the serpent (cobra) became one of the chief symbols in all reformative religions and in particular in Jainism. In the Jain iconology Jeena (Jina) is often portrayed sitting under the inflated hood of many headed cobra (as also Buddha in buddhist iconology and Balaram, Krishna's brother, in Krishna iconology.SS One must not glass over the existence of the Pani tribe. Several Indian scholars express the opinion that the doctrine of ahimsa i.e. prohibition of killing of living beings, which is one of the basic prohibitions imposed by Jainism was adopted by the founders of Jainism from, these Pani people as the term 'ayajnik' characterizes the cult of Pani people as a cult which is first of all, not connected with the bloody sacrifices. Most interesting testimony of the Indo-Himalayan ties in which at the same time, the affirmation of the deep antiquity of the sources of Jainism can also be detected is available. An ethnic $ Acharya Tulsi has ventured to prove that Mahavira was a prince of the Naga Dynasty in an article.

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 129 group called Thakur lives in western Nepal, whose sect is called Pen-po. Members of this sect believe in God, whom they call leading to the Heaven (towards the heaven compare the designation, 'Tirthankar' leading or carrying the being across the ocean) or the 'joined conqueror' (compare Jeena'-the 'conqueror). They portray this god fully naked, as the Jains their Tirthankars. The difference consists in that this god has five faces and ten hands (that is why he is called Joined) but these faces are painted in those colours, in which Jains paint the statues of their Tirthankars-blue, red, white, green and yellow. The symbol of this god is a bird, which also is the symbol of Tirthankars. The Pen-po sect also portrays their godly ancestors naked, painting their figures white or blue. Although the Pen-po religion is nearly not studied at all, it is certain that there is no idea of the creator of the world in it, as also in Jainism. Pen-po is also similar to Jainism in that vegetarianism is strictly observed. In the pattern of ornaments which they plot on the house and on the utensils and on cloth etc. Swastika, a motif is widespread. It is also often met with an ornaments and on various things from the Indus valley and on the things belonging to Jains and on the sculptures. The Thakurs consider that the saints of their faith are full ascetics who similar to Tirthankars, lead on the path of salvation. The Lichhavi tribe played a significant role in the history of Jainism, about which 'Manusmriti' says that Lichhavi is born out of 'Vratya kshatriyas'. Lichhavi, along with the not less known tribes of the first half of the first millenium B.C. such as the Malla, Vrijji (Vajji), Shakya, Koliya and Bhagga created so-called republic states. Lichhavi constituted a part of the confederation of eight tribes-Atthakul (eight kinship) and the confederation of the Vajji, which existed in the course of several centuries. The territory of the last-mentioned embraced approximately the contemporary North Bihar and part of Nepal but its borders went on changing. There is a mention of the Brahmins being peasants in the villages belonging to the kshatriyas in north Bihar and this means that they did not play there a noticeable role. Here in the republics in Bihar, the original population of which consisted of tribes mentioned above, anti-Brahmanic reaction was at its highest. All land, property, slaves belonged to

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LO 130 Lord Mahavira the kshatriyas. This confirms our suggestion that the conception kshatriya, as mentioned in Chapter I covered all the males, related by blood of the family-kin group. If one agreed with the idea that the doctrine of reformatory faiths was formed in Bihar, absorbing many elements of the cults and faith of the local pre-Aryan tribes of north India, then it is worthwhile acknowledging that these elements went on accumulating gradually before adopting the form of new religiousphilosophic-ethical system. This gradual assimilation, this fusion of religious and cult-ideas of quite a number of above mentioned tribes inust have started in all probability in north west India, i.e. where Aryans first appeared as an expression of their protest against the forcible introduction of religious modes and laws of Brahmanism, foreign to them. Many elements of the customary rites of local peoples and their traditions formed a part of these ideas. Thus, affirmation of anti-Vedic krishnaism was evident in the region of Mathura, which was connected with the existence of institutes of matrilineal succession. Here, amongst tribes, who had developed institutes of matriarchy, a protest arose against the humiliating position, leading women to the patriarchal society of the Aryans. And this was later accepted by Jainism. It is evident that the gradual rise of separate, elements of Jainism was reflected in the teaching of Jains about the existence of the 23 Tirthankars, who created and preached that religion even before Mahavira Jina. It is considered that the first of these 24 Tirthankars, Rishabha, who lived immeasurably long, long ago, performed the asectic feat in Prayag (Allahabad); the 16th, 17th and 18th Tirthankars (Shanti, Kunthu and Are) reached enlightenment in Hastinapur (near the modern city of Meerut); 23rd Tirthankars (Parshvanath or Parshva) was born, lived and preached in Kashi (Benaras) and finally the 24th Tirthankar (Mahavira) was born in the East, in Vaishali. Possibly the initial forms of Jainism marched forward from west to east, through Kashi and by the time of Mahavira's birth, new religious faith reached the confederation of Vajji, and it developed and completed its development there. In the Purans, it is said that the first Tirthankar, Rishabha performed acts of Yoga, which were incomprehensible to the people (possibly, it should be read, to the Aryans) and he was

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The Predecessors of The 24th Jina 131 subjected to persecution. He Left for the south and preached there. After his death, Arhan (the word means a Jain ascetic), one of the southern rulers, founded the sect. But the people who adopted this new teaching started for the underworld. At the same time, Rishabha included in the Brahmanic pantheon in the form of one the incarnations of the God Vishnu. This circumstance and also the name Tirthankar, which bears Sanskrit character, confirms the idea that the Aryans had also participated in the development of early forms of Jainism. The community which was founded by the 23rd Tirthankar, Parshva (or Parshvanath) was called 'Nigrantha, which means 'free from fetters' (from attachments). Both men and women could be members of the community. Parsva preached four truisms, adherence to which can, according to his teachings, secure cognition. Those are : not to kill, not to steal, non-attachment to things and complete truthfulness. For securing salvation, he prescribe strict asceticism. All the members of the community were divided in 'laymen (Shravakamen and Shravika-women) and 'Ascetics' (Yati, muni or sadhu-males and arjika or sadhavifemales). These four groups had their leaders, who observed the conduct of their members and this means that the community had a clear-cut organisation. Thus admittedly, Jainism as a system of religious and ethical veiws and likewise as a community of jainism was formed long before Mahavira Jeena became the head of the community. According to Jain legends, Mahavira born in the beginning of the sixth century B.C. on the territory of Bihar. As regards Mahaviras, father, it is Suid that he belonged to a kinship which was equal among. the equal ruling kshatriya kinships, in kumdagamma, near to Vaishali (capital of the Vaishali republic). Mahaviras, mother belonged to the Lichhavi tribe. Mahavira added one more precept to the four precepts of his predecessor Parshava. This precept was expectation of complete chastity. In the course of 12 years he performed ascetic feats, living without clothes and almost without food. At the age of 42, he secured enlightenment and until his death was the spiritual head of the community. He was very active in propagating Jainism and noticeably extended the borders of the coinmunity. During his life and after his death, this religion was widely known in the territory of modern

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132 Lord Mahavira Varanasi (Kashi or Benaras) Bihar and West Bengal. The rulers of many eastern Gangetic states supported Jainism and encouraged the spread of Jainism contradictory versions exist about the time of birth and death of Mahavira. According to the latest data, he was born in 599 B.C., and died in 527 B.C. He was senior contemporary of Buddha, who was born in 528 B.C. and died (submerged in Nirvana) in 502 B.C. (Muni Shri Nagrajji. The contemporaneity and the chronology of Mahavira and Buddha, pp. 174-75). But the date of Mahavira is traced back to 477 and 487 B.C. (Bihar Through the Age, p. 128). The friendship of Mahavira with Makhali Gosala, the head of Anti-Brahmin sect of Ajivikas who came from slave origin, speaks of the great liberalism of ancient Jainism and possibly of active counteraction to it. Mahavira travelled with him for six years, preaching the truth about the futility of reliance on the posthumous life of the soul, about uselessness of sacrificial offerings and about the necessity for the ascetic to expose his body. This preaching was similar to the teaching of Ajivikas.

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10 JAINISM BEFORE MAHAVIRA -Devendrakumar Shastri The Sumerian civilization is considered to be the most ancient civilization in Central Asia. Some scholars think that the eastern sages were the progenitors of the Sumerian culture. According to a German scholar the Indian immigrants from Saurastra were the builders of this culture. In the opinion of late Dr. Kamta Prasad Jain the builders of Sumerian civilization belonged to 'Su' clan. These people were the followers of Jainism. The brothers-in-law of Tirthankara Rishabha named Sukaccha belonged to Saurastra. In the opinion of Dr. Jain not only the Aryans but the Dravidians also adored and followed Lord Rishabha. The excavations of Mohan-jo-Daro and other sites of Indus Valley civilization approve this fact. The clan named 'Su' worshipped 'Meru'. In the Pauranic Jaina literature allusion to obeissance and worship of five Mierus and nature-made shrines are found. In the Jain narratives they are frequently and specifically mentioned. In Rigveda devotees of the Vedas and the Bralimana are called 'Barhatas'. Vedic texts are named 'Brhati'. Those who followed the Vedic lore observed celibacy. They preserved their semen by practice of self-control and austerity. Such followers of the Vedic Lore were called 'Barhatas'.' These Barhatas were the pioneers of the Brahma or Brahmanic culture. But even before the Vedic Era people Vratya of Sadhya clans had founded the Arhat culture and opposed the Brahmanic culture along with its doctrine of creation by God. They did not regard God as the creator of universe. They believed in the spontaneous emergence of universe by the laws of nature. Having known the laws of nature man also can build a new world. Man is the greatest power on earth. He is the mightiest of all that exists. It is said that the Sadhyas

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134 Lord Mahavira erected an observatory at the confluence of Sarasvati and Indus and built up the sun. In it they surveyed the entire cosmos. Thus the Arhatas did not believe in rituals but believed in Karmic bondage and freedom from it. The Hindu Puranic literature bears a testimony to the existence of this tradition. In Padma Purana the Arhat creed is regarded to be an eminent creed.2 Tirthankara Rishabhadeva is said to be the founder of the Arhata creed. In Sri Mad Bhagavata Purana Lord Rishabhadeva is called Yogesvara i.e. Lord of the Yogies an over-ascending genius among the Vatarasana and Sramanic ascetics.3 In the Upanishadic and Puranic texts the Nirgrantha ascetics are alluded to. Actually the tradition represented by the Arhata creed seems to shine through the Jaina canons and mythological literature as well as the Upanishadas. Up to the age of Lord Parshvanatha Jaina religion was denoted by the word "Arhata". In the Buddhistic Pali texts and Ashoka's rock inscriptions "Niggantha" is used for Jainas. Actually Nirgrantha (unchained) is a Jaina technical term meaning one who is independent of all desires and material possessions. In the Jaina canons expressions such as Jaina Shasana, Jaina Tirtha and Jaina Samudghate are available. From Lord Mahavira's Nirvana to the heirarchy of eight Ganadharas or Acharyas "Nirgrantha" was principally used for the Jainas. But during the later half of the pauranic epoch expressions such as "Jaina Dharma" and "Jina Dharma" came to be used commonly. In Matsya Purana and Devi Bhagavata Purana expressions such as "Jina Dharma" and "Jaina Dharma" are found. According to Dr. R.K. Mookherjee the Vedic civilization was a contribution of many monarchs and priests. As a matter of fact it was an age of pre-dominance of the Kshatriya kings. The Arhatas were mainly kshatriyas. The Kshatriyas have always been taking interest in the intellectual lite of their age. A study of the Jaina Pauranic literature brings this fact to clearer light "Bharata, the son of Tirthankara Rishabha, the first sovereign monarch (chakravartin) whose name has been adopted by our nation, Janaka and Vardhamana were such learned monarches. Jainism was developed through ages by twenty four Tirthankaras who were all Kshatriyas. According to Dr. B.S. Upadhyaya Jainism was the first off" shoot of the Shramanic culture. On the basis of the images of the naked yogies found in the ruins of the civilization

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Jainism Before Mahavira of Mohan-jo-Daro it is guessed that Jainism already existed during the period which witnessed the flourishing of the Indus Valley Civilization. 135 Yajna may be called the supreme symbol of the Aryan Culture, According to some scholars yajna (ritual) was the predominant feature of the Aryan culture while Puja (worship) was that of the Non-Aryan Culture. However, there was yet another tribe or clan in this country that regarded vratas or vows to be supreme in its creed. The originators of vratas are called "Vratyas". The fifteenth canto of the Atharva Veda is Vratyakanda i.e. the canto on the uratyas. Sayana translates "Vratya" as 'group' or 'clan'. But the word Vratya has originated from urata (vow). That Aryan clan which attached supreme significance to the vratas against the yajnas was called Vratya. In a Buddhistic scripture entitled "Manjushree Mulakalapa" Rishabhadeva son of king Nabhi is called "Vratapalaka" i.e. one who follows his vows. Vrata also means "Rudra".4 In certain aspects Shiva and Rishabha or Rudra and Vrishabha seem to be identical. Vrishabha (bull) is said to be the riding animal of Shiva. Lord Shiva is called Vrishabhadhvaja i.e. one whose flag bears the sign of a bull. The sign of Tirthankara Vrishabha is also bull. In Rigveda 'Vrishabha' means one who fulfils desires.5 According to Rapson these Vratyas were a nomadic people. They abstained from agriculture, wore turbans, loaded merchandise and sold it abroad during their long journeys. Agriculture was forbidden to them. Their language was not refined like that of the Aryans. Though their language resembled the Aryan one, it was quite different in some respect from Skt. It was a simple and colloquial form of Prakrita. They usually avoided the consonants of difficult pronunciation and combined form. It is not possible to locate their homeland. According to the available informations some of them were settled in west and at least some of them certainly lived in the province of Magadha." According to Sri R.C. Jain about 1400 B.C. the South East India was inhabited by the Vratyas, Iksvakus, Mallas, Licchavis, Kasisa, Koshala, Videha, Magadha and Dravidians. The eastern part of India was the cradle of the Vratya creed. Thus the Vratyas mentioned in the Rigveda are proved to be the forefathers of Jainism. In the Vedic texts 'Vrashabha' is

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136 Lord Mahavira frequently mentioned. Tirthankara Rishabhadeva propounded this doctrine first of all that man can attain godliness by developing his spiritual powers. God dwells in every soul. One who reveals his divine nature through spiritual discipline becomes God. His doctrine is confirmed by the following couplet of Rigveda. Catvari sringa trayo asya pada Dve Sirse sapta hastaso asya. Tridha baddho urisabho roraviti Maho devo martyamavivesa. The Vrishabha (Rishabhadeva) who has four horns (peaks of spiritual ascension-infinite knowledge, faith, righteousness and strength), three legs (Right Saith, knowledge and conduct), two heads (omniscience and perfection), seven hands (vows) and who has controlled the triple activities of life through mind, body and speech has pronounced it that Maha deva (the Great God) dwells inside the bosom of the man. In the Atharva Veda (19/42/4) and yajurveda this doctrine is referred to. According to the Jainas Tirthankara Rishabhadeva was the first maker Manu or Kulakara of the human civilization. Who millions of years ago founded a society based on non-violences and delivered to it the massage of humanitrianism. Naturaly he was adored throughout the Indian nation. Even in foreign countries he was reportedly worshipped as "sun-god" or of agriculture or rain." In the eastern nations like China and Japan his name and achievements are still alive. His name occurs in the chinese Tripitaka texts. Japanese call him Rokshab. In the languages of the central Asians, Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians he was called "Rashepha' which is a slightly changed form of Rishabha. Literally it means "the god with horns". A study of Shiva Purana makes the matter clearer. As a matter of fact Rishabhadeva and Shiva are supported by many proofs to be identical. The Babylonian civilization was a product of the combined development of the cultures of Alkada & Sumer. It is regarded to be a very ancient civilization. The rock-inscriptions of its king Hammuravi (21332081 B.C.) regard Bull (Vrishabha) as the God of Heaven and Earth. Sumerians worshipped many gods. They worshipped Bull (Vrishabhadeva) as the God of Agriculture and called him Abu or Thammuz. The Egyptians regarded Sun god as the creator of

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Jainism Before Mahavira 137 Thammuz." The Egyptians regarded Sun god as the creator of the world. Among deities of that age the most popular were animal gods. Even among the animals bull and he-goat were regarded sacrosanct. In a religious text of Sumeria or Babylonia a word "Arhashamma" is found. This 'Arha' seems to be an abbreviation of 'Arhat'. As Paushadha-"day of fast" is sacred to the Jainas the Sabbath-day was sacred to them. On that day they abstained from all mundane activities and obligations involving violence. They regarded even the mere touch of wine to be sinful. Among their saints Moses and Daniel were pioneers of non-violence. The Hittites, like the Babyloneans and Hebrews, were also influenced by the Indian religions. Their greatest god was named "Weather God". His riding animal was a bull the name of which was Teshub. It seems to be a derivation from Titthaya Ushabha (Tirthankara Rishabha). The religious beliefs of the Egyptions resembled those of the Jainas. They did not regard God as the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe. They did not eat raddish, onion and garlic. They wore shoes made of the bark of trees. In the Vedic texts names of Ajita and Aristanemi, besides that of Rishabhadeva, are also mentioned. Parshvanatha, the immediate predecessor of Tirthankara Vardhamana or Mahavira is regarded by historians to be a historical personage. German scholars like Dr. Booler and Jacobi have made it evident after deep study and research that Mahavira was not the founder of Jainism.11 He is said to have been born in 599 B.C. and died in 527 B.C. at Pavapur. He is said to have been born 250 years after Parshvanatha.12 13 According to copper-plate in Kathiavada a Babylonian king arrived at Dvarika, built a temple and dedicated it to god Nemi or Aristanemi of Raivatagiri (Girnar). This copper-plate belongs to king Nebuchedanezzer First or second (1140 B.C. or 600 B.C.) A Buddhist epic entitles Mahavamsa written by a senior monk (sthavira) named Mahavira in Ceylon during the reign of King Dhatusena (461-476 A.D.) makes it known to us that Jainism was popular in South India before 500 B.C. The Epigraphical Reports of Madras (1907 and 1910) refer to a rock inscription of 300 B.C. written in Brahmi script and belonging to the Jainas. It was found during the excavations of Madurai and Ramnad. The

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138 Lord Mahavira Jaina images found in the ruin of Alagamalai also prove that Jainism had spread far and wide in South India. In the PreMauryan period worship of the Jaina icons was popular in East India. The icons and paintings in the cave temples of Khandagiri and Udaigiri in Orissa belonging to the first century B.C. are worthseeing. According to some scholars Rani Noor Cave of Udaigiri contains pictures depicting the events of Tirthankara Parshava's life. The migration of Digambara Jaina monks from North India and their settlement in the South is regarded as the cause of the outspread of Jainism there. But even before that Jainism is proved to have flourished there. In several rock-inscriptions of the Kadamba dynasty donations from the Jainas are mentioned. The kings the Andhra Dynasty were champions of Jainism. Like the kings of Kadamba dynasty the Chalukya kings also followed Jainism. A study of 'Agathiyam' and 'Tautkapam', two ancient texts on Grammer in Tamil reveals their authorship by a Jaina Acharya during the fourth century B.C. Thus, Jainism cridently spread far and wide in South India in 500 B.C. Traces of the outspread of Jainism are also found in Afganistan, Ceylon, Nepal, Turkistan and central Asia. Now it is beyond doubt that from 1500 B.C. to 800 B.C. 14 Jainism had flourished in North India. Its antiquity leaves Mahavira and Parshva far behind and reaching the Pre-Vedic ages finally disappears in the mist of pre-historic part. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The Rig-Veda, 10/85/4. Padma Purana, 13/350. Shrimat Bhagavata Purana 5/3/20, 5/4/3. The Yajur Veda, 16/25 The Rig Veda, 6/17/2. The Cambridge History of India, Vol. 1, Second. Indian edition, 1962, pp. 111. 7. 8. Shiva Purana, 1/47. The Story of Civilization (Our Oriental Meritage) New York, 1954, pp. 219. 9. Ibid. pp. 127. 10. Ibid. pp. 199. 11. The Cambridge History of India, pp. 136. 12. 13. 14. Mahapurana 74/279. Indian Culture, April 1938, pp. 515. "Jainism and Its Universality" Dr. Kamta Prasad Jaina, JAIN BHARATI, Shodhamka, pp. 49. .....

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11 The FOUNDERS of JAINISM* -Jack Finegan The Tirthankars Among the great figures of Jainism the most important are the twenty-four Tirthankaras, the title Tirthankara probably meaning one who is a guide over the ocean of Samsara. In the introduction to the Trishashtisalakapurushacarita, Hemachandra addresses words of praise and prayer to the twentyfour as follows:1 We praise the Lord Rishaba, who was the first king, the first ascetic, the first head of a congregation. I praise the Arhat Ajita, the sun to the lotus-bed in the form of the universe, in the clear mirror of whose omniscience the world is reflected. May the words of the Lord of the World, Holy Sambhava, prevail at the time of his preaching-words that resemble rivers in the garden of all the souls who can attain emancipation. May the Blessed Abhinandana, the moon for the exhilaration of the ocean of Anekanta-doctrine2 give great joy. May the Blessed Lord Sumati, whose toe-nails are sharpened on the whitestone of the gods' diadems,3 grant your desires. May the spendor of the Lord Padmaprabha's body, red as if from a burst of anger in crushing internal enemies, promote your emancipation. Homage to the Lord of Jinas, Holy Suparsva, whose feet are honored by Mahendra (Sakra),4 the sun to the sky in the form of the forfold congregation.5 May Lord Chandraprabha's form, bright as a mass of moonbeams, as if made of embodied pure meditation, be for * The Archeology of world Riligious Princeton, 1952

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140 Lord Mahavira your prosperity. May Suvidhi, who considers the universe as a myrobalan lying in the hand by means of his wealth of omniscience, the depository of inconceivable power, be for your enlightenment. May the Jina Sitala, a new cloud for making shoot up the bulb of the people's supreme joy, who powerful the nectar of Syadvada, protect you. May Sreyamsa, throught is a physician for creatures afflicated with the disease of over the Srio of emancipation, be for your emancipation. May Vasupujya, whose acquisition of Tirthankara-namakarma' has been beneficial to the whole universe, entitled to worship from gods, asuras and men, purify you. May the words of the Lord Vimala which are like powedered clearing nut, be successful in clarifying the water of the mind of the three worlds. May Ananta, rivaling the Svayambhuramana ocean' with water of the feeling of compassion, bestow on you the boundless wealth of happiness. We worship Dharmanatha, the teacher of fourfold dharma, 10 like a kalpa-tree for attainment of creature' desires. May the Jina Santinatha, who has brightened the quarters of the sky by the moonlight of his nectar-like words, be a moon to you for dispelling (mental) darkness. May the Blessed Sri Kunthunatha, lord of the wealth of the supernatural powers, supreme lord of the lords of gods, asuras and men, be for your emancipation. May the Blessed Aranatha, the sun the sky of the fourth division of time, grant us pleasure with the Sri of the fourth object of existence. We praise Malli, a new cloud for the peacocks in the form of lords of gods, asuras and men, Hastimalla (Indra's elephant] for the rooting up of the tree of karma. We praise Munisuvrata's preaching, which resembles the dawn for the sleep of the world's great delusion. May the rays of light from Nami's toe-nails which, falling on the heads of his worshippers, purify them like streams of water, protect you.

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The Founders of Jainism 141 May the Blessed Arishtanemi, the moon to the ocean of the Yadu-family, a fire to the straw of karma, destroy your misfortunes. May the Lord Parsvanatha, whose attitude of mind was the same toward Kamatha and Dharanendra 12 while each was performing actions characteristic of himself, be for your emancipation. May there be good fortune from Holy Vira's eyes whose pupils are wide with compassion even for sinful people, moist with a trace of tears. This and other Jaina sources provide much information about the various Tirthankara and enable the construction of a table like the following in which are shown not only the color and emblem customarily associated with each but also his height and age and the interval to the next Tirthankara. 13 While there is some variation among sects as to details this will provide the general picture of Jaina belief in this regard. Interval to Next Name Color Emblem Height Age Tirthankara 1. Rishabha Golden Bull 500dhanushas 84 lakh of 50 lakhs of krores purvas of sagaras 2. Ajita Golden Elephant 450 " 72 lakh of 30 lakhs of krores purvas of sagaras 3. Sambhava Golden Horse 60 lakh of 10 lakhs of krores purvas of sagaras 4. Abhinandana Golden Ape 50 lakh of 9 lakhs of krores purvas of sagaras 5. Sumati Golden Heron 40 lakh of 90,000 krores purvas of sagaras 6. Padmaprabha Red Red 30 lakh of 9000 krores Lotus purvas of sagaras 7. Suparsva Golden Swastika 200 " 20 lakh of 900 krores purvas of sagaras 8. Chandraprabha White Moon 150 10 lakh of 90 krores purvas of sagaras 9. Suvidhi (or White Dolphin 100 " 2 lakh of 9 krores of Pushpadanta) purvas sagaras 10. Sitala Golden Srivatsa 90 1 lakh of 9,999,900 sagaras 11. Sreyamsa Golden Rhinoceros 80 * 84 lakh of 54 sagaras year 12. Vasupujya Red Buffalo 70 " 72 lakh of 30 sagaras year 300 >

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142 Lord Mahavira 13. Vimala 9 sagaras Golden Boar Golden Falcon 605 -50..." year 14. Ananta 4 sagaras 15. Dharma Golden Thunderbolt 45 60 lakh of 30 lakh of year 10 lakh of year 1 lakh of year 95,000 year 3 sagaras less 3/4 palya 1/2 palya 16. Santi Golden Antelope 40 Golden Goat 35 " W 17. Kunthu 18. Ara Golden Nandya " 84,000 years 30 vasta 25 20 14 palya less 6,000 krores of year 1,000 krores less 6,584,000 years 54 lakhs of year 9 lakhs of years Blue Black Jar Tortoise " 55,000 years " 30,000 years 19. Malli 20. Munisuvrata (or Suvrata) 21. Nami 22. Arishtanemi (or Nemi) 23. Parsva 5 lakhs of years 84,000 years Golden Blue Lotus 15 " 10,000 years Black Conch 10 " 1,000 years nell Blue Hooded 9 hastas 100 years Snake Golden Lion 7 " 72 years 250 years 24. Mahavira The above table is self-explanatory except for the appearance of certain technical terms and statistical units. The Srivatsa, the emblem of the tenth Tirthankara, is a curl of hair on the breast, well known as a mark of Vishnu too. The Nandyavarta, the symbol of the eighteenth Tirthankara, is a mark resembling a swastika. 14 As used by the Jains, the units of number and measure, including also a few appearing elsewhere in the present chapter, are as follows. In some cases different authorities give different values. Numbers llakh (Sankrit, laksha) = 100,00015 1krore (Sankrit, koti) = 100 lakhs = 10,000,00016 1kotikoti = 10,000,000 x 10,000,000 = 100,000,000,000,00017 Measures of Length and Distance 1 hasta = 18 inches 18 1 dhanus = 4 hastas = 72 inches = 6 feet19 1 krosa = 8,000 hastas = 12,000 feet = 24/4 miles20 1 yojana = 4 krosas = 9 miles21

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The Founders of Jainism 143 1 rajju = the distance a god can go in 6 months when he goes 100,000 yojanas in the winking of an eye22 Measures of Time 1 purva - 8,400,0002 years23 1 palya (or, palyopama) = the length of time required to empty a receptacle one yojana (9 miles) wide and deep, which is filled with new lamb's hairs grown within seven days, when one hair is taken out every hundred years.24 1 sagara (or, sagaropama), "ocean of years" = 10 krores of palyas = 100,000,000 palyas25 Applying these units to the table of Tirthankaras, we find, for example, the Rishabha was three thousand feet in height, and that the interval between his Nirvana and that of Ajita was 50 x 100,000 x 10,000,00 "oceans of years" (sagaras), or 50 x 10,000 x 10,000,000 x 100,000,000 palyas. The most striking fact in the entire table is that, whereas enormous magnitudes of size and time are involved throughout most of the chart, there is a progressive diminution in the measurements until at the bottom of the table the figures come almost or entirely within the realm of actual earthly possibilities. Specifically, the last two Tirthankara appear as persons of exxaggerated but not utterly fantastic size, of thoroughly reasonable age-lengths of 100 and 72 years respectively and with a relatively brief interval between them of only 250 years. The conclusion is suggested, therefore, that while the earlier Tirthankara are purely mythological beings, Parsva and Mahavira were actual historical persons and the real founders of the religion.26 Parsva The life of Parsva (or Parsvanatha) is narrated in the Kalpasutra, a work which contains a date nine hundred and eighty years after the death of Mahavira and is said to have been read publicly before a certain King Dhruvasena of Anandapura27 to comfort him upon the death of his son.28 While it is characteristic of the Jaina literature to portray all of the Tirthankaras according to one stereotyped pattern, and while the account of Parsva's life no doubt contains much that is legendary, nevertheless the kind

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144 Lord Mahavira of experience that is ascribed to him fits naturally into the background of Indian life as known from the time of the Upanishads on, and the record may not be entirely devoid of historical value.29 According to the Kalpasutra30 Parsava was born in Benares as the son of King Asvasena and Queen Vama. A commentary says that the name Parsva was bestowed upon him because before his birth Queen Vama saw a black serpent crawling about; and in the text he is given the appellation Purisadaniya, which means "the people's favorite" or "who is to be chosen among men because of his preferable Karma." After living for thirty years as a householder, Parsva left the world behind to practice asceticism and seek salvation. He attained the enlightenment he sought after eighty-three days, and then spent the remainder of his life preaching his doctrine to others. At last, having abstained from food and water for an entire months, he died at the age of a hundred upon the summit of Mount Sammeta, now known in his memory as Parasnath Mountain. The work of Parsva was very successful according to the Kalpasutra, which records that he won 164,000 men and 327,000 women as lay adherents, and 16,000 men and 38,000 women as monks and nuns. His Ganadharas or chief disciples were eight number, Subha (or Subhadatta), Aryaghosha, Vasishta, Brahmacari, Saumya, Sridhara, Virabhadra and Yasas. Of these Subha become the leader of the church after the death of the master, and was followed in turn by Haridatta, Aryasamudra, Prabha and Kesi. 31 Mahavira Concerning the life of Mahavira we have an extended and legend-embellished account not only in the Kalpasutra32 but also in the Acarangasutra.33 In these sources we learn that Mahavira was a native of Kundagrama, which was a suburb of Vesali and is probably represented by the modern village of Basukund. 34 He was going to be born of a Brahman mother, Devananda, a highly legendary portion of the narrative relates, but through the intervention of the god Sakra (Indra) an embryonic transfer was accomplished as he was born of a Kshatriya mother named Trisala. The latter was the wife of a certain Kshatriya named Siddhartha,

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The Founders of Jainism 145 and was herself the sister of the Licchavi king Chetaka of Vesali, whose daughter Chellana later married King Bimbisara and become the mother of King Ajatasatru. Prior to her son's birth Trisala learned, it is said, through fourteen dreams that she was to be the mother of a great saint. In these dreams she saw a white elephant, a white bull, a white lion, the goddess Sri, a garland of flowers, the white moon, the red sun, a banner, a vase, a lotus lake, a milk ocean, a celestial abode, a heap of jewels and a blazing ghee-fed fire. At the birth of the son, it is declared, "there was a divine luster originated by many descending and ascending gods and goddesses, and in the universe, resplendent with one light, the conflux of gods occasioned great confusion and noise.35 In Kundagrama, the parents and the townsfold jointed in extended celebrations of the auspicious event. The personal name bestowed upon the son was Vardhamana which is explained as follows: "In the night in which the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira was brought into the family of the Jnatris their silver increased, their gold increased, ... the intensity of their popularity and liberality highly increased. At that time the following personal, reflectional, desirable idea occurred to parents of the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira: 'From the moment that this our boy has been begotten, our silver increasesd, our gold increased,...the intensity of our liberality and popularity highly increased. Therefore when this our boy will be born, v.. shall give him the fit name, attributive and conformable to his quality-Vardhamana (the Increasing One)."36 It may also be noted in the foregoing passage that the family bore the name of Jnatri (Prakrit, Naya or Nata), and on this account the masculine members were designated as Jnatriputras or Nataputtas. Thus is explained the name Nataputta by which Mahavira is often called. For thirty years Vardhamana lived the life of a householder, and then his parents died. We are told that the parents "were worshippers of Parsva and followers of the Sramanas (or Samanas; 'ascetics')," and that at the end of their lives they fasted to the death as Parsva himself had done.37 Upon the death of his parents Vardhamana resolved to renounce the world, and first disposed of his treasures as gifts to the poor. Then "he, after fasting two

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146 Lord Mahavira and a half days without drinking water, put on a divine robe, and quite alone, nobody else being present, he tore out his hair and leaving the house entered the state of houselessness." 38 There is reason to believe that at first Vardhamana remained in the vicinity of his home as a member of the ascetic order founded by Parsva and with which his parents seem to have been in contact. 39 Evidently finding their rules insufficiently strict, he departed from them for an utterly possessionless wandering. The Kalpasutra records: "The Venerable Asotic Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted the alms in the hollow of his hand. 40 For more than twelve years he sought thus for perfect. salvation. A brief description of his manner of life says: "The Venerable One lived, except in the rainy season, all the eight months of summer and winter, in villages only a single night, in towns only five nights; he was indifferent alike to... straw and jewels, dirt and gold, pleasure and pain, attached neither to this world nor to that beyond, desiring neither life nor death, arrived at the other shore of the Samsara, and he exerted himself for the suppression of the defilement of Karma. 41 Extreme in his asceticism, he slept and ate but little, suffered attacks from animals and men without defending himself, bore pain in silence, and even if wounded never desired medical treatment. 42 In the thirteenth year thus devoted to utterly self-forgetful meditation Vardhamana at last attained perfect understanding. "Outside of the town Jrimbhikagrama," 43 on the northern bank of the river Rijupalika, in the field of the householder Samaga, in a north-eastern direction from an old temple, not far from a sal tree, in a squatting position with joined heels exposing himself to the heat of the sun, with the knees high and the head low, in deep meditation, he reached Nirvana, the complete and full, the unobstucted, unimpeded, infinite and supreme, best knowledge and intuition, called Kevala ('total'). When the Venerable One had become and Arhat and Jina, he was a Kevalin ('possessed of Kevala'), omniscient and comprehending all objects, he knew all conditions of the world, of gods, men, and demons; whence they come, where they go, whether thy are born as men or animals...; he saw and knew all conditions in the whole world of all living beings. 44

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The Founders of Jainism 147 Henceforth properly called Mahavira or Great Hero, the victorious ascetic lived for almost thirty years longer and preached his message widely. As before, he wandered from place to place during two-thirds of the year and only in the four months of the rainy season remained in some single city. A precise catalogue is given in the Kalpasutra of the cities in which his rainy seasons were spent throughout all forty-two years of his life as an ascetic: "Mahavira stayed the first rainy season in Asthikagrama, three rainy seasons in Champa and Prishtichampa, twelve in Vesali and Vanijagrama, fourteen in Rajagriha and the suburb of Nalanda, six in Mithila, two in Bhadrika, one in Alabhika, one in Panitabhumi, one in Sravasti, one in the town of Papa in King Hastipala's office of the writers: that was his very last rainy season." Many of these places are well known, such as Champa the capital of Anga, Vesali Mahavira's own native metropolis, Rajagriha the capital of Magadha, Mithila in the kingdom of Videha, and Sravasti, celebrated in the annals of Buddhism. 45 Mahavira enjoyed family relationship to several of the leading rulers of his time as we have seen, and both Bimbisara (or Srenika) who ruled at Rajagriha around 540-490 B.C. and Ajatasatru (or Kunika) who succeeded his father on the same throne about 490-460 B.C. are said to have regarded his teachings with favor. The actual conversion of King Srenika by a young disciple of Mahavira is recounted in Lecture XX of the Uttaradhyayana,46 but since that king is also claimed as a patron of Buddhism in the traditions of that religion we may suppose that he manifested a bicad interest in the doctrines of various teachers rather than committing himself to any single sect. As intimated in the quotation from the Kalpasutra given just above, death came to Mahavira in the town of Papa (or Pava). This was a place not far from Rajagriha, and is today a small village called Papapuri or Pavapuri in the region of the modern city of Bihar.47 In the words of the Kalpasutra which follow immediately after the quotation just given: "In the fourth month of that rainy season,...in the town of Papa, in King Hastipala's office of the writes, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira died, went off, quitted the world, cut as under the ties of birth, old age, and death; became a Siddha, a Buddha, a Mukta, maker of the end [to all misery], finally liberated, freed from all pains."

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148 Lord Mahavira The success of Mahavira's work is indicated by the statement of the Kalpasutra that he gathered "an excellent community of 14,000 Sramanas with Indrabhuti at their head; 36,000 nuns with Chandana at their head; 159,000 lay votaries with Sankhasataka at their head; 318,000 female lay votaries with Sulasa and Revati at their head. "48 The four groups here designated, namely monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen, constitute the four orders or Tirtha of Jainism. Associated with Gautama Indrabhuti (as his full name was) in the leadership of the monks were ten other Ganadharas or chief disciples, Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Akampita, Arya Vyakta, Arya Sudharma, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Acalabhrata, Metarya and Prabhasa. All of the disciples who had wholly severed their connections with the world, that is both the monks and the nuns, were known as Nirgranthas (Niganthas) meaning "without any ties," a designation which had perhaps already been borne by Parsva's followers."49 The Dates of Mahavira and Parsva The death of Mahavira, or in the language of religious faith his Nirvana, is the basic point in Jaina chronology. According to the tradition of the Svetambaras this took place four hundred and seventy years before the beginning of the Vikrama Era (58) 57 B.C.); and according to the Digambaras it was six hundred and five years before the beginning of the Saka Era (A.D. 78).50 By either mode of calculation the date was therefore 527 B.C. Since at death the Tirthankara had attained the age of seventytwo, his birth must have been around 599 B.C. To date the life of Mahavira around 599-527 B.C. is to make him a slightly elder contemporary of Gautama Buddha who probably lived about 567-487 B.C. This is substantiated by Buddhist sources, in which there are many references to Nataputta and the Niganthas, meaning Mahavira and the Jains; although in the Jaina canonical books there seem to be no corresponding notices of Gautama and the Buddhists. Three passages in the Buddhist canon refer specifically to the death of Nataputta the Nigrantha at Pava at a time when the Buddha was still engaged in his work of teaching. 51 Once while the lord was staying among the Sakyans at Samagama," it is written, "Nataputta the Nigantha had died

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The Founders of Jainism 149 It is true that Hemachandra states that the death of Mahavira took place one hundred fifty-five years before the accession to the throne of Chandragupta, an event which transpired in about 322 B.C. This would lead to a date around 549-477 for Mahavira and would place his death slightly later than that of the Buddha. This is supported by some scholars who criticize the Buddhist notices referred to just above as unreliable.52 At all events, the two great teachers, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha, were substantially contemporaries. In the Buddhist sources the followers of the two teachers are for the most part represented as in controversy with each other, and, as is not surprising in texts emanating from only the one group, the Buddhists are always pictured as victorious. For an example we may cite the Upali Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya.53 In this Sutta a prosperous householder named Upali, who is an adherent of Mahavira, enters into a conversation with Gautama Buddha, intending to refute him on a point of philosophical doctrine. Instead of succeeding, Upali finds himself not only overcome in argument but also, to his surprise, deeply impressed with both the wisdom and the magnanimity of Buddha. He forthwith announces himself to be a follower of Buddha. He forthwith announces himself to be a follower of Gautama, and closes his house to the Niganthas although at Buddha's behest he still distributes alms to them at a distance. Mahavira cannot believe the report which comes to him of the defection of his erstwhile disciple, and goes to visit Upali. The latter treats him with haughty condescension, and utters a lengthy eulogy of the Buddha. "Then and there," the Sutta concludes, "from the mouth of Nataputta the Nigantha, who could not bear to hear the lord extolled-there gushed hot blood." While we are dealing with Buddhist notices of the Jains we may add a report on their teaching which is found in the Devadaha Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya. 54 Gautama is supposed to be speaking: "Here upon those Niganthas told me that Nataputta the Nigantha was all-knowing and all-seeing, with nothing beyond his ken and vision, and that he affirmed of himself that, whether walking or standing, sleeping or awake, he was always, without a break, at his spiritual best. These, they added, were his words: You have done misdeeds, Niganthas, in past existences; wear it out by severe austerities; every present restraint on body, speech

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150 Lord Mahavira out by severe austerities; every present restraint on body, speech and mind will undo the evil-doings of the past; hence, by expiration and purge of past misdeeds and by not doing fresh misdeeds, nothing accrues for the future; as nothing accrues for the future, misdeeds die away; as misdeeds die away, Ill dies away; as Ill dies away, feelings die away, and as painful feelings die away, all ill will wear out and pass away. This doctrine, they added, commends itself to us and has our approval, and we rejoice in it." Needless to say, in this Sutta the Buddha proceeds immediately to the refutation of the Jaina philosophy. Having seen, then, that Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were in disputably contemporaries, and that the most probable dates for Mahavira are 599-527 B.C., we may turn to the question of the date of Parsva. There is no doubt that Parsva preceded Mahavira, since the parents of the latter were alredy worshippers of parsva. Also the most reasonable explanation of the nature of Mahavira's work is that he was not the investor of a new doctrine but the reformer of a movement already long in existence and derived from Parsva. Four vows had been enjoined on his followers by Parsva, namely; (1) not to destroy life (ahimsa); (2) not to speak untruth; (3) not to steal; and (4) not to own property. To these Mahavira added as a fifth the vow of chastity. This was indeed thought of as already implied in the fourth vow of Parsva, but on this point laxity had developed within the order and Mahavira deemed it necessary to make the rule explicit as a fifth regulation, additional to the four of his predecessor. 55 Furthermore, it seems that Parsva had allowed his followers to wear an under and an upper garment, but that Mahavira went to the extreme position of forbidding his monks to wear any clothing whatsoever. There is a very interesting section (Lecture XXIII) in the Uttaradhyayana56 in which these and other point of difference between the disciples of Parsva and those of Mahavira are set forth, and in which it is related that through an amicable discussion between Kesi, leader of the followers of Parsva, and Gautama, foremost disciple of Mahavira, the two groups were united in acceptance of the reformations of Mahavira. The following quotations will give the essence of the account: There was a Jina, Parsva by name, an Arhat, worshiped by the people, who was thoroughly enlightened and omniscient, a

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The Founders of Jainism 151 And there was a famous disciple of this light of the world, the young Sramana Kesi, who had completely mastered the science and right conduct. He possessed the light of Sruta and Avadhi knowledge, 57 and was surrounded by a crowd of disciples; wandering from village to village he arrived in the town of Sravasti. In the district of that town there is a park, called Tinduka; there he took up his abode in a pure place to live and sleep in. Now at that time there lived the prophet of the law, the Jina, who in the whole world is known as the venerable Vardhamana. And there was a famous disciple of this light of the world, the venerable Gautama by name, who had completely mastered the sciences aid right conduct. He knew the twelve Angas, was enlightened, and was surrounded by a crowd of disciples; wandering from village to village he, too, arrived in Sravasti. . In the district of that town there is a park Koshtaka; there he took up Ibis abode in a pure place to live and sleep in. The young Sramana Kesi and the famous Gautama, both lived there. ... The pupils of both, who controlled themselves, who practiced austerities, who possessed virtues, and who protected their self, made the following reflection: "Is our law the right one, or is the other law the right one? are our conduct and doctrines right, or the other? "The law as taught by the great sage Parsva, which recognizes but four vows, or the law taught by Vardhamana, which enjoins five vows? "The law which forbids clothes (for a monk], or that which (allows) an under and upper garment? Both pursuing the same end, what has caused their difference?" Knowing the thoughts of their pupils, both Kesi and Gautama made up their minds to meet each other. Gautama, knowing what is proper and what is due to the older section (of the church), went to the Tinduka park, accompanied by the crowd, his pupils. When Kesi, the young monk, saw Gautama approach, he received him with all becoming attention. He at once offered Gautama the four pure kinds of straw and hay to sit upon.

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152 Lord Mahavira accompanied by the crowd, his pupils. When Kesi, the young monk, saw Gautama approach, he received him with all becoming attention. He at once offered Gautama the four pure kinds of straw and hay to sit upon. Kesi, the young Sramana, and the famous Gautama, sitting together, shone forth with a luster like that of sun and moon. There assembled many heretics out of curiosity, and many thousands of laymen; gods,... Gandharvas, Yakshas,... [assembled there], and there came together invisible ghosts too. [Here follows an extended conversation between Kesi and Gautama on the points at issue between the two groups, including not only the questions concerning vows and clothes but also various problems in the philosophy of religion. On each matter Gautama made such a convincing presentation that Kesi was fully persuaded, and the passage closes with these words describing the accord to which they came:] Kesi, of enormous sanctity, bowed his head to the famous Gautama. And in the pleasant [Tinduka park] he sincerely adopted the law of the five vows, which was proclaimed by the first Tirthankara, according to the' teaching of the last Tirthankara. In that meeting of Kesi and Gautama, knowledge and virtuour conduct were for ever brought to eminence, and subjects of the greatest importance were settled. The whole assembly was greatly pleased and fixed their thoughts on the right way. They praised Kesi and Gautama; "May the venerable ones show us favor!" Parsva, then, was indubitably prior to Mahavira, and sufficient time had elapsed since his day that a decay in the morals of the monastic order had occurred which led to the reformation carried out by Mahavira. This situation is in satisfactory agreement with the more exact indication given in Jaina tradition that a period of two hundred and fifty years had separated the, two Tirthankaras. This tradition is represented in the Kalpasutra 58 where it is stated that from the death of Parsva to the time of the writing of the Kalpasutra 1,230 years had elapsed, and from the death of Mahavira 980 years. Reckoning two hundred and fifty years before the death of Mahavira in 527 B.C. we reach 777 B.C. as the date of Parsva's death, and if the latter lived for one hundred years his inclusive dates were 877-777 B.C. Such an early date for the foundation of Jainism is consonant with the animistic character of its basic philosophy which will appear in the succeeding section.

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The Founders of Jainism 153 1. tr. Johnson Trisastisalakapurasasitra, 1 pp. 1-7; cf. Banarsi Das Jain, Jaina Jatakas, pp. 1-5 The A ekanta doctrine is the "many-sided doctrine" or Syadvada, a distinctive feature of Jaina logic, which considers everything from seven points of view and implies that a true assertion is true only under certain conditions of time and space. The gods bow their heads so low before this great being that the jewels on their crowns come in contact with his feet. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. The Indra of the first heaven, the most important of the sixty-four Indras of the Jaina pantheon. The Jaina Sangha or congregation is made up of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. 27. The Sanskrit sri means fortunate, holy or reverend, and is commonly employed when speaking of a person, king or deity with special respect. Hemachandra uses the word frequently in such a way that, as here, it might be translated "goddess," without reference, however, to Lakshmi who is known by this name in Hinduism. Tirthankara-name-karma ensures that one will at last become a Tirthankara. This powder is said to remove all impurities from water in which it is dissolved. The last and largest circular ocean on this earth. Of dharma, usually translated "law" or "religion" Hemachandra later says: "Dharma bestows heaven and nourishes like a mother, protects like a father, pleases like a friend, and is loving like a kinsman.... It is fourfold with the division of liberality, good conduct, penance, and state of mind." tr. Johnson, pp. 18f. With reference to the proverbial love of peacocks for clouds. The demon Kamatha was the enemy of Parsvanatha, and the god Dharanendra his friend.. Johnson, Trisastisalakapurusacaritra, 1 pp. 347-349; Jagmanderlal Jaini, Outlines of Jainism (Jain Literature Society). 1916, table facing p.6; Hermann Jacobi in HERE vii, p.466. ch pp. 383f. Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. New ed. 1899, p.891. 16. ibid., p.312 17. cf. Champat Rai Jain, Risabha Deva, the Founder of Jainism. 1920, p. 50. Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 1294. 18. 19. ibid., p.509.20. ibid., p.322. 21. ibid., p.858. 22. Johnson, Trisastisalakapurusacaritra, 1, p.103 n.140 23. ibid., 1, p.84 n.125. 24. ibid., 1, p.29 n.50 25. ibid., 1, p.71 n.97 26. Within Jainism itself, of course, the belief is held that even the first Tirthankara, Rishabha, was an actual man who lived "very very far back in the remoteness of hoary antiquity," who attained immortality, and who through his teachings founded the true religion. Champat Rai Jain, Risabha Deva, The founder of Jainism, p.i. Anandapura was about a hundred and twenty miles northwest of valabhi according to Hiuen Tsang (xi, 8f. tr. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western

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28. 31. 45. 154 Lord Mahavira World, II, p.268; cf. Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India, I, pp. 493f.). SBE XXII, p.270 29.. Gj p.19 30. SBE XXII, pp.271-275. - . GJ pp.221. 32. SBE XXII, pp. 217-270. ibid., p.189-202. Jarl Charpentier in CHI I, p.157. 35. SBE XXII, p.251. SBE XXII, pp. 2571. SBE XXII, p.194 38. ibid., p.259. 39. GJ p.24. 40. SBE XXII, pp.259f. ibid., p.262. ibid., pp. 79-87. 43. Perhaps in the vicinity of Parasnath Mountain. Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism (The Religious Quest of India). 1915, p.38. SBE XXII, pp.201f. SBE XXII, p.264. 46. SBE XLV, pp. 100-107. Chimanlal J. Shah, Jainism in North India 800 B.C., A.D. 526. 1932, p.27 n.5. 48. SBE XXII, pp.267. 49. GJ pp.22, 32. Schubring, Die Lehre der Jainas nach den alten Quellen darestellt, p.30. 51. Samagama Sutta. Majjhima Nikaya III, I, 104 (II, 243). tr. Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, II, p.139; Pasadika Suttanta and Sangiti Suttanta. Digha Nikaya XXIX (III, 117); XXXIII (III, 209f.). tr. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, III, pp. 111,203. For bibliographical details on the Buddhist sources see the chapter on Buddhism. 52. Hermann Jacobi in Sitzungsberichte der preussischen Akademic der Wissenichaften. 1930, phil.-hist. KI., XXVI, pp.557-561. II, I, 56 (1, 371-387). tr. Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, I, pp. 267-278. III, I, 101 (II, 217f.). tr. Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, II, p. 125; cf. Culadukkhakkhandha Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya I, ii, 14 (1, 92f.). tr. Chalmers, ibid., I, p.67. 55. A. F. R. Hoernle in HERE I, p. 264. 56. SBE XLV, pp. 119-129. 57. The second and third grades of knowledge according to the Jains. 58. SBE XXII, pp. 270, 275. 47 50.

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12 JAINISM BEFORE LORD MAHAVIRA* -Kailash Chand Jain The history of Jainism before Mahavira is shrouded in considerable obscurity. The available evidence to decide the question is scanty, dubious and capable of different interpretations. Scholars have 'therefore' come to widely divergent conclusions. The Jainas themselves believe that their religion is eternal and that before Mahavira (600 B.C.), there lived twenty three Tirthankaras who appeared at certain intervals to propagate true religion for the salvation of the world. Some scholars1 are of opinion that there are traces of the existence of Sramana culture even in pre-Vedic times. Hermann Jacobi2 tried to prove both from the Buddhist and the Jaina records, that Parsvanatha, the immediate predecessor of Mahavira. Who is said to have furnished some 250 years before him, is a historical personality. Jaina Religion As Eternal According to the traditions of the Jainas as found in their scriptures, Jaina religion is eternal, and it has been revealed again and again in every cycle period of the world by innumerable Tirthankaras. The whole time is divided into two equal cycles namely Utsarpini Kala and Avasarpini Kala. Each Utsarpini and Avsarpini Kala extends over ten Kota-Koti Sagaropama years, and are divided into six divisions known as aras. The six divisions of Avasarpini are known as Sushama-Sushama, Sushama, SushamaDushama Dushama-Sushama, Dushama and DushamaDushama. The six divisions of Utsapini are Dushama-Dushama, Dushama Dushama-Sushama, Sushama-Dushama, Sushama and Sushama-Sushama. During each succeeding ara of Avasarpini Kala, the age, height, strength and happiness of the Yugalikas * Journal of the Gavganatha Jhakindriya Sanskrit Vidyapitha, vol. 32, 1976.

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Lord Mahavira gradually became less than before. During this age, fourteen Kulakaras (Manus) flourished. 156 After the Kulakaras, twenty four Tirthankaras appeared at certain intervals who preached true religion for the salvation of the world. Their names are- (1) Rishabha, (2) Ajita, (3) Sambhava, (4) Abhinandana, (5) Sumati, (6) Padamaprabha (7) Suparsva, (8) Chandraprabha, (9) Suvidhi (10) Sitala, (11) Sreyamsa (12) Vasapujya, (13) Vimala (14) Ananta (15) Dharma, (16) Santi (17) Kunthu, (18) Ara (19) Malli, (20), Munisuvrata, (21) Nami, (22) Nemi (23) Parsva and (24) Vardhamana or Mahavira. All Tirthankaras were Kshatriyas; Munisuvrata and Nami belonged to Harivamda, the remaining twenty two to the Ikshavaku race. Malli was a woman, according to the Svetambaras, but this, the Digambaras deny, as according to them no female can reach liberation. The interval in years between one after the other Tirthankara has been given. 'Parsva's predecessor Arishtanemi is stated to have died 84,000 years before Mahavira's Nirvana. Nami died 500,000 years befor Arista Nemi, Munisuvrata 1,100,000 years before Nami, the next intervals are 6,500,000, 10,000,000 or a Krore, the following intervals cannot be expressed in definite numbers of years, but are given in Palyopamas and Sagaropamas, the last interval being one krore of krores of Sagaropamas. The length of the life and height of the Tirthankaras are in proportion to the length of the interval. Besides twelve Universal monarches3 (Chakravartins), nine Vasudevas1 nine Baladevas5 and nine Prativasudevas lived within the period from the first to the twenty-second Tirthankara. Together with the twenty four Tirthankaras, they are sixty-three great personages (Trishashtisalakapurushacharita) of Jaina history. From such statements and descriptions of the blissful state of the world in its first ages, it is evident that the Jainas like the Hindus attributed to the first race of man a longer life, a greater strength and more happiness than fall to the share of their offspring in the present age. As we know, the Greeks and the Romans help also similar views. But of course, the world grew worse and the life of man shorter and shorter, so that the twenty third Tirthankara Parsva, the immediate predecessor of Mahavira, is said to have lived only for a hundred years, and to have died only 250 years before his more celebrated successor.

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Jainism Before Mahavira 157 Archaeological Evidence to Ascertain the Truthfulness of the Legends: This legendary account of the existence of Jainism in such an early period on the basis of Jaina scriptures is not reliable, as it is not consistent with the known facts from the archaeological evidence. The archaeologists tell a different story. The earliest man of Early Palaeolithic Culture lived in India in Middle Pleistocene Period i. e. some 2,00,000 years ago. Economically, man was a savage and a hunter, and with the help of stone tools, he subsisted largely on fruits, roots and grubs, and on the chase with the help of bow and arrow. The Middle Stone Age Culture is assigned the later half of the Pleistocene (25,000 years before), and the tools? are of typical flake nature, smaller than those of Early Stone Age Culture. Up to the Mesolithic stage of culture of the Early Holocene Age, man was still a hunter and used tiny stone tools called microliths which are non-geometric. Pottery did not come into existence up till now. If the evidence of the lowest levels of Langhraj in Gujarat is taken to be a generalized feature, there came the stage when the geometric element made its appearance in the microlithic industry. At Langhraj itself was followed by the appearance of pottery, there is also some evidence though inconclusive regarding agriculture and domestication of animals at this stage. A picture of people using pottery and geometric microliths is also afforded by the cave-shelters of Madhya Pradesh. None of these aforesaid stages have been dated with reasonable approximation. The carbon 14 datings for the pre-pottery village culture of Kili Ghul Mohammad near Quetta in W. Pakistan confined to the Baluchi hills (Period I viz. 3690+85 B.C. and 3510+515 B.C.) are of great value. It provides the evidence of domestication of animals and of agriculture but not of the use of pottery. Kili Ghul Mohammad III marks the infiltration of copper. Kalibangan and Kotdiji cultures (3000 B. C.) are famous for pre-Harappan deposits such as pottery, and structures. The Harappan civilization with many metropolitan centres such as Rupar in the East Punjab, Kalibangan in North Rajasthan, Alamgirpur in Uttara Pradesh and Rangpur, Lothal and Somanatha in Gujarat is the last and most elaborate phase of long cultural evolution (2500-1800 B.C.).

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158 Lord Mahavira It was followed by the various Chalcolithic Cultures 1800-600 B.C.) the Painted Grey Ware Culture of the Ganga Yamuna basin, the Chalcolithic Cultures of Madhya Pradesh and the Deccan, the Neolithic Cultures of North West etc. In the light of the material furnished by these different cultures we should place Jainism before Mahavira. The archaeological evidence does not prove such an antiquity of Jainism as known from the Jaina scriptures. The Theory of Twenty-four Tirthankaras The Kalpasutra ascribed to Bhadrabahu (3rd B. C.) shows the early stage of the development of Jainism when the tradition of four Tirthankaras or Jinas was cherished by the Jaina Community. The four Jinas whose life-history is presented in the Kalpasutra are Rishabhadatta, Arishtanemi, Parsva and Mahavira. The conception of the Former Buddhas was prevalent even in Buddhism as early as the third century B. C. because some of them were worshipped in their own stupas. Like Buddhism, in Jainism also, the number gradually increased from four to seven, and from seven to twenty four Tirthankaras. The tradition of twenty four Tirthankaras become well established in about the first or second century A. D. among the Jainas. No doubt in developing this theory, both Buddhism and Jainism were influenced by one another. It is difficult to say which of the two sects first invented or borrowed from the other. As the Nirgranthas were never spoken of in Buddhist writings as a newly risen sect nor Nataputta as their founder. Accordingly the Nirgranthas were probably an old sect at the time of Buddha, and Nataputta only the reformer of the Jaina Church which may have been founded earlier. Hence this theory of the Tirthankaras may have been invented first by the Jainas because Parsvanatha already flourished before Mahavira. Rishabha as Founder of Jainism According to the Jaina tradition, Rishabha, who belonged to the Ikshavaku family of Ayodhya, was the founder of Jainism. His parents were Nabhiraja and Marudevi. The name of his son was Bharata after whom India is said to be named. He was the first Jina and the first Tirthankara who was born in a very primitive

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Jainism Before Mahavira 159 age when people were illiterate and did not know any art. He is said to have taught the arts of cooking, writing, pottery, painting and sculpture for the first time. In his time came into existence the institution of marriage, the ceremony of cremating the dead, building of the mounds and the festivals in honour of Indra and the Nagas. We may, thus, call him the great pioneer in the history of human greatness. It is argued that there is a reference to Lord Rishabha in the Vedic lirerature. Some Vedic preceptors paid reverence to Lord Rishabha, and regarded him Lord of Lords. In the Rgveda and in the Taittiriya Aranyaka' Vatarasanas have been used in the sense of Sramanas. There is also mention of Vatarasana and in the same context, there is an excellent tribute to Kesi. 10 This Kesi indicates Rishabha because in Jaina literature, there is a tradition that Lord Rishabha was called Kesi. Even on ancient images of Lord Rishabha, locks of hair are noticed. In the Rovedal Kesi has been mentioned along with Vrshabha. It is more probable that the life of Lord Rishabha in Vratyakhanda of the Artharvaveda is a metaphorical name. From this, it is argued that Vrishabha lived before Vedic times and was the first fountain of Sramana culture. It is from the context of the Rgveda that Lord Rishabha has been depicted as sponsor of Vatarasana Sramanas in the Bhagavata Puranal2 the eight century A.D. Against this, it may be argued that though in the Ryveda and the other Vedic literature, Rishabha has been mentioned many times, its meaning has been controversial because of different interpretations. There is no evidence of Rishabha being mentioned as the founder of Jainism in Vedic literature. Even in the time of Mahavira, Rishabha was not known as the founder, of Nirgrantha sect from any contemporary source. From about the fourth or third century B. C. it seems that Rishabha became popular as the first Jina, the first Tirthankara and the founder of Jainism. Like the imaginary "Manu of Brahmanical literature, he has been described as the first ruler and the founder of new social order. Neminatha as Tirthankara: Besides Rishbhadeva, Arishtanemi or Neminatha has been also mentioned as the Tithankara of the Jainas in the Kalpasutra. He was born of queen Siva, wife of king Samudravijaya in the

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160 Lord Mahavira town of Sauripura. He was named Arishtanemi as his mother saw in a dream a nemi, the outer rim of a wheel, which consisted of rishta stones flying up to the sky. He was a cousin of Krishna, the Lord of Bhagvvadgita. Because of the cruelty of Jarasandha, the Yadavas left Sauripura and settled in Dvaraka. Krishna negotiated his marriage with Rajamati, the daughter of Ugrasena but Neminatha taking compassion on the animals which were to be slaughtered in connection with the marriage feast, left the marriage procession suddenly and renounced the world. The Chhandogya Upanishad13 refers to sage Krishna, son of Devaki, as a disciple of the Risi Ghora of the Angirasa family who instructed him about tapas (ascetism), dana (charity), arjava (simplicity or piety), ahinsa (non-injury), and satyavachana (truthfulness), the same virtues are extolled by Krishna in the Gita. As Jaina tradition make Vasudeva-Krishna a contemporary of Tirthankara Arishtanemi who preceded parsvanatha, some scholars identify Ghora Angirasa with Neminatha. We may place Neminatha around 100 B. C., as he was a contemporary of Lord Krishna, the hero of Mahabharata war. If the historicity of Lord Krishna is admitted, we may as will admit that Lord Neminatha is not a mere myth. The historicity of Neminatha is doubtful because we have no contemporary evidence of the existence of Neminatha. The identification of Ghora Angirasa with Neminatha is also not correct. It has been propounded by some scholars that Jainism is a pre-Vedic religion. G. C. Pandeyl4 has tried to show that the antiritualistic tendency within the Vedic fold is itself due to the impact of an asceticism which antedates the Vedas. Jainism represents a continuation of this pre-Vedic stream. Some of the relics25 found from the excavations of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are related to Sramana or Jaina tradition. The nude images in Kayotsarga i.e. standing posture lost in meditation have close similarity with the Jaina images of the Kushana period. Kayotsarga is, generally, supposed to be the Jaina tradition. There are some idols even in Padmasana pose. Some images found at Mohenjodaro have heads of serpents. They probably belonged to the Naga tribe which is probably pre-Vedic. The image of the seventh Tirthankara Lord Suparsva has a canopy of the heads of serpents. Even after the destruction of the Indus Civilization, the straggling culture of the Sramanas most probably going back to

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Jainism Before Mahavira 161 pre-Vedic and pre-Aryan origins continued even during the Vedic period as denoted by some terms-Vatarasana, Muni, Yati, Sramana, Kesi, Vratya, Arhanand Sisnadeva. The Kesi Sukta of the Rgveda delineats the strange figure of the 'Muni' who is described as long-haired, clad in dirty, tawny-coloured garments, walking in the air, drinking poison, delirious with 'Mauneya' and inspired. There can hardly be a doubt that the 'Muni' was to the Rigvedic Culture an alien figure. The Taithriya-Aranyakalo speaks of Sramanas who were called 'Vatarasanah'. They led a celibate life, could disappear, at will and teach to Brahmanas the way beyond sin. The word 'Sramana' views in the Upanisad. 17 although the Mundakopanisad has various references to the shaven headed ascetics who revile the Vedas. All the passages of the Vedic literature18 taken together suggest that the Yatis were the people who had incurred the hostility of Indra, the patron of the Aryas, and their bodies were therefore thrown to the wolves. The Panchavimsa Brahmanalo describes some peculiarties of the Vratyas. They did not study the Vedas. They did not observe the regulating the Brahmanical order of life. They called an expression difficult to pronounce when it was not difficult to pronounce and spoke the tongue of the consecrated through unconsecrated. This proves that they had some Prakritic form of speech. The prakrit Language is specially the language of the canonical works of the Jainas. K.P. Jayaswal20 that they had traditions of the Jainas among them. In the Rgveda, 21 Arhan' has been used for a Sramana leader. The very verse states, "Ci: Arhan, you fed compassion for this useless world." The mention of Sisnadevas (naked gods) in the Rgveda22 is also noteworthy. As a matter of fact, there is no definite evidence for the existence of Jainism in pre-Vedic times. The images found in Kayotsara (standing) pose found from Mohenjo-daro cannot be ascribed to Jainism unless there is some evidence for it. Even from the various terms mentioned in the Rgveda, no definite conclusion can be drawn regarding the existence of Jainism. There was no existence of Jainism in so early period, but the primitive currents of religious and philosophical speculation of the pre-Vedic period considerably influenced this religion along

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162 Lord Mahavira Sankhya-Yoga and Buddhism. All three share a kind of pessimism, a conclusion that human life is full of misery, no trace of which is to be found in the optimistic attitude of the Vedic Aryans. The doctrine of transmigration, unknown to the early Brahmanas, suddenly emerges in the Upanisads and forms an essential element in these three systems. What is more important is the fact that this doctrine assumes its peculiarly Indian form by its association with the doctrine of Karman, and we know that most primitive ideas of Karman are found in Jaina Metaphysics. An atheistic attitude and a kind of dualism between spirit and matter characterise all the three systems of thought. To the same primitive influence of pre-Vedic times may also be attributed the introduction of the practice of image worship. From early times, the cult of symbols and images seems to have been current among the Jainas who continued the traditional religious practices of the pre-Aryan settlers of the Sindhu Valley region. Hermann Jacobi23 some marks of antiquity in the character of Jaina philosophy. Such a mark is the animistic belief that nearly everything is possessed of a soul; not only have plants their own souls, but particles of earth, cold water, fire and wind also. This theory of primitive animisim of Jainism indicates that this religion originated at a very early time when higher forms of religious beliefs and cults had not yet, more generally, taken hold of Indian mind. Another mark of antiquity in Jainism is that in the development of metaphysics, the category of quality is not yet clearly and distinctly conceived, but it is just evolving, as it were out of the category of substance. In the Vedic period, there existed two distinct religious and cultural traditions the strictly orthodox and Aryan tradition of the Brahmanas and the straggling culture of the Munis and Sramanas most probably going back to pre-Vedic and pre-Aryan origins. During the later Vedic period, the two streams tended to mingle and the result was the great religious ferment from which Jainism appears to have originated. Jainism and other Sramika religious sects grew up among the imperfectly Aryanised communities of the east in response to the cultural atmosphere arid social needs. These sects spread, flourished and became highly popular there. On the other hand, Brahmapical religion had its stronghold in the north and the west.

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Jainism Before Mahavira Parsvanatha as an historical Figure and the Real Founder of Jainism 163 Hermann Jacobi and others have tried to prove both on the authority of Buddhist and Jaina records that Parsva was an historical personage, and the real founder of Jaina religion. Their arguments are as follows: 1. In the Samannaphala Sutta of the Dighanikaya, there is a reference to the four vows (Chaturyama Dharma) in contradiction to the five vows of Mahavira. The four vows of Parsva were not to take life, not to tell a lie, not to steal and not to own property. To these Mahavira was forced to add the vow of chastity when the abuses had crept into the Jaina church. The Buddhists could not have used the term Chaturyama Dharma for the Nirgranthas unless they had heard it from the followers of Parsva. This is the proof the correctness of the Jaina tradition that the followers of parsva actually existed at the time of Mahavira. 2. This sect of the Nirgranthas was an important sect at the rise of Buddhism. This may be inferred from the fact that they are frequently mentioned in the pitaka as opponents of Buddha and his disciples. This conclusion is further supported by another fact. Maukkhali Gosala, a contemporary of Buddha and Mahavira, divided mankind into six classes, of these the third class; contained the Nirgranthas. Gosala probably would not have ranked them as a separate class of mankind if they had recently come into existence. He must have regarded them as a very important and at the same time an old sect. The Majjhima Nikaya records a dispute between Buddha and Sakdal, the son of a Nirgrantha. Sakdal is not himself a Nirgrantha. Now when a famous controversialist whose father was a Nirgrantha, was a contemporary of the Buddha, the Nirgrantha can scarcely have been a sect founded during Buddhas's life. Parsva and his disciples are referred to in various Jaina canons. The Uttaradhyana Sutra24 a meeting between Gautama Indrabhuti, the disciple of Mahavira and Kesi Kumara, the disciple of Parsva at Sravasti brought about the union of the old branch of the Jaina Church and the new one. The Bhagavati25 records the discussion that took place between Mahavira and the Samara

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164 Lord Mahavira Gangeya, a follower of Parsva, in Vaniyagama. Gangeya gave up the Chaturyama-dharma and embraced the Panchayama (the five great vows) of Mahavira. Kalasavasiyaputta was another follower of Parsva who became a follower of Mahavira. 26 The Avasyaka Churni mentions several ascetics such as Uppala27 and Munichanda28 of Parsva sect. These arguments clearly show that Parsvanatha was a real historical figure. He is supposed to have attained liberation about 246 years before Mahavira at Sammedasikhara which is known by his name Parsvanatha hill. If 526 B. C. is taken as the year of Lord Mahavira's Nirvana, in 772 B. C. must have occurred the death of Parsvanatha. According to the tradition, he dwelt in the world exactly one hundred years, we may conclude from this that he was born in about 872 B. C. As we have not a single certain date in Indian history before the time of Buddha, it is evidently impossible to prove this. We know very few facts of Parsva's life. From the Kalpasutra, we know that he was Kshatriya by caste. He is said to have been a son of Asvasena, king of Benaras, and his wife Vama. No such person as Asvasena is known from Brahmana records to have existed. The only individual of that name mentioned in the epic literature was a king of the snakes (nagas), and he cannot in any way be connected with the father of the Jaina prophet, Parsva. Parsva must have been of a genial nature as he is always given the epithet 'purisadaniya beloved of men. He lived for 30 years in great splendour and happiness as a householder, and then, leaving all his wealth, became an ascetic. After 84 days of intense meditation, he reached the perfect knowledge of a prophet, and from that time, he lived for about seventy years in the state of most exalted perfection and saintship and reached his final liberation. In regard to the teachings of Parsva we have no exact knowledge. We are told that Parsva enjoined on his followers four great vows, viz., not to injure life, to be truthful, not to steal, and to possess no property. Mahavira added a fifth requistion, viz., that of chastity. Further, it is known that Parsva allowed his disciples to wear an upper and an under garment. Mahavira, on his part, followed the more rigid rule which obliged the ascetic to be completely naked.29

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Jainism Before Mahavira The Jaina writers tell us that Nagnajit, king of Gandhara, Nimi, king of Videha Durmukha, king of Gandhara, Nimi, kind of Videha Durmukha, king of Panchala Bhima, king of Kaliga adopted the faith of the Jainas.30 As Parsva 872-772 B.C. was probably the first historical Jina, these rulers if they really became convert to his doctrines, should have to be placed between 842 B.C. and 600 B.C. These rulers are known to have ruled over their respective kingdoms before the sixth century B.C. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. BREEK 2222222 8. 10. 12. 14. 15. 16. 18. 19. 21. 23. 30. Zimmer: Philosophies of India, pp. 217-227; Farlong Short studies in the Science of Comparative religions, pp. 243244; G. C. Pandey: Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, p. 260; Acharya Shri Tulsi: Pre. Vedic existence of Sramana Stradition. SBE, XIV, pp.99 XX-XXIII. (1) Bharata (2) Sagara (3) Madhva (4) Sanatakumara (5) Santi (6) Kunthu (7) Araha (8) Subhauma (9) Padma (10) Harishena (11) Jayasena and (12) Brahmadatta. (1) Achala (2) Vijaya (3) Bhadra (4) Suprabha (5) Sudarsana (6) Ananda (7) Nandana (8) Padma and (9) Rama. (1) Triprishtha (2) Dviprishtha (3) Svayambhu (4) Purushottama, (5) Purushasimha (6) Purushapundarika (7) Datta, (8) Narayana and (9) Krishna. (1) Asvagriva (2) Taraka (3) Meraka (4) Madhu (5) Nisumbha (6) Bali (7) Prahlada (8) Ravana and (9) Jarasandha. Even in the: Bhagavatisutra of the Jainas, the Ajivika saint Gosala is said to have claimed for himself the status of the twenty fourth and last Tirthankara of the current Avasarini age. the terminology of the phrase is distinctly Jaina. This is not true because before Gosala, only two previous Ajivika leaders namely Nandavachchha and Kisa Sankichcha are known. X. 11. 139, 2-3 9. 2. 7. 1, page 137. 11. X, 9, 102-6. 13. II, 17, 6. Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, p. 317 Mohen-jo-daro and its civilization, Plate XII figs. 13, 14, 15, 19, 20. I, pp. 87, 137-8. X, 11, 136-1 V, 3, 20. 165 17. Br. up. u. 3. 22. Tai, S. VI, 2, 75; Kathaka Samhita VIII, 5; Ait. Br. 35. 2; Kausitaki up. m. 1; Atharvaveda II, 53, Tandya Maha-Brahmana VIII, 1-4. XVII, 4, 1-9. 20. JBORS, XIV, p, 26. F. 15 22. VII, 21, 5; X, 99, 3. XI, 4, 33, 10. SBE, Faina Sutras, II, XLV, p. XXXIII: 24. Ch. xxiii 25. 27. 26. Ibid, 1.9. 28. Ibid, pp. 285, 291 29. However the view that the Svetambaras and Digambaras are the followers respectively of Parsva and Mahavira respectively is denied by most authorities. As a matter of fact, this division took place much later than Mahavira. SBE, XLV, 87. 9.32. Ava, Cu., p. 273. .....

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13 THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLIER TIRTHANKARAS* -H.L. Jain It was now established beyond doubt and dispute that Lord Mahavira adopted an earlier system of religion which was prevalent in his time and which he renovated and preached to his followers. To mention a few outstanding researches in this direction, it was Dr. Herman Jacobi who in his Introduction to Vol. XXII & XIV of the Sacred Books of the East presented evidence both from the Ardhamagadhi and Pali texts to prove "that Parsva was a historical person". Shri Dhammanand Kosambi took up the threat and he in his book 'Parsvanatha's Caturyama Dharma brought together a mass of material, particularly from the Pali books, to show how Buddha himself came into contact with the followers of Parsvanath even before as well as after his enlightenment and how the tenets of that earlier system influenced him in the formulation of his own teachings. Pt. Sukhlalji in his article 'Bhagwan Parsvanatha Ki Virasat (Darshana aur cintana Part II) has further supported the thesis and has also tried to show what exactly the practice of the followers of Parsvanatha was. In this task he has focussed attention upon a number of references in the Ardha-Magadhi Canon. Pandit Dalsukh Malvaniya has in one of his articles collected all the references to the followers of Parsvanath occuring in the canonical works. The asceticism of Parsvanatha has been called 'Caujjama (Sk. Caturyama) and this name has been given even to the system of Mahavira in the Pali books. The crux of the problem is what exactly was the meaning and significance of 'Caujjama'. The Pali interpretation of the word is entirely different from that found in * Journal of Karhataka History, Review Vo.8, 1981.

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The Practice of the Earlier Tirthankaras 167 the Ardhamagadhi Canon which understands by it the four vows out of the five laid down by Lord Mahavira. On this point Pt. Sukhlalji has noticed briefly the tradition as contained in the Mulacara and other Digambara Jain works. But the data presented by him leaves us in doubt as to the exact nature of the tradition and its bearing upon the subject of the religious form of the earlier Tirthankara. I am therefore attempting here to present that tradition in a more clear form and see how far it is in agreement or at variance with the Ardha Magadhi and Pali traditions. In the Mulacara Vattakera we find the following verses: vAvIsaM titthayarA sAmayiya-saMjamaM uvadisaMti / cheduvATThANiyaM puNa bhayavaM usaho ya vIro ya / / 1 / / AcakkhiduM vibhajidUM viNAeM suhadaraM hodi / edeNa kAraNeNdu mahavvadA paMca paNNattA / / 2 / / AdIe dubbisodhaNa NihaNaM taha suTaThu duraNupAleya / purimA ya pacchimA vi hu kappAkappaM Na jANaMti / / 3 / / The purport of these verses is as follows: The twenty-two Tirthankaras ("from Ajitanatha to Parsvanatha) have preached Samajiya Sanjama (Sk. Samayika Samyama) while the First and the Last Tirtharnkaras (i.e. Rishabha and Mahavira) preached Cheduvatthaniyam (SK. Chedopasthapana samyama). The reason for laying down five vows was that this method makes it easier to explain analyse and understand the subject matter. People at the beginning were hard to purify and at the end it was difficult to make them keep to the right path. Thus people, at the beginning and at the end did not know what to do and what not to do." These verses are followed in one edition of the Mulacara (Text & trans. by Jinadasa Parshvanatha Phadkule Sholapur) by another verse which is as follows: ajjava jaDA aNajjava-jaDA ya usaha-vIra-titthajA maNujA / tesiM subodhamatthaM chedovaTThAvaNaM vuttaM / / 'straight but dull and not-straight and dull were the people

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168 Lord Mahavira during the age of Rishabha and Mahavira respectively. For their easy grasp the Chedovatthavana was laid down'. These contents of Mulacara would be found to be almost identical with those of Uttaradhyayana Chapt. 23. But there is one important difference. While in Uttaradhyayana the system of the twenty-two inter vening Tirthamkaras is called by the name Caujjama (Sk. Chaturyama), it has been here called Samaiya Sanjama and in contra-distinction with it the system of Five Vows has been called Chedouatthaniyam. It is therefore necessary to find out what is exactly meant by these terms. The commentator of Mulacara Vasunandi is not sufficiently helpful on the point, because he does not try to interpret the two significant terms. Nevertheless the explicitly mentions that by Chedopasthapana is meant the Five Great Vows, as is implied in the text itself. The two terms are explained by Devanandin Pujyapada in his commentary Sarvartha-siddhi on the Tatvartha Sutra (9) (VII, IX) of Umaswati as follows: .. .. Hd-HTqE-Fqfar-neu-HIHIRIAT Tab ani, na chedopasthApanApekSayA pNcvidhmihocyte| The Tatvartha-vartika further clarifies it by reading the last clause as stay TYRMATETYT Tafaet 1914. Just before these remarks Pujyapada gives an etymological explanation of the work Samayika. sam ekIbhAve vrtte| tadyathA-saMgataM ghRtaM, saMgataM tailamityucyate ekiibhuumitigmyte| ekatvena ayanaM gamanaM smyH| samayaH eva saamaayikm| samayaH prayojanamasyeti vA vigRhya A71 These remarks are made while commenting upon the sutra enumera...y the five vows, namely, FEHTSA-eesafe Farfadhi This leaves us in no doubi that chedovatthaniyam sanjama means these same five vows and no others. The word Samayika has here and elsewhere been repeatedly explained to mean abandonment of all sinful acts in equal manner without making a distinction, and hence all vows boil down to one. If therefore Parsvanath preached Samayika samayama, it

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The Practice of the Earlier Tirthankaras 169 means there was no division of the vows into even two classes, to say nothing of the four. Division and classification come only with Chedopasthanika samyama, which according to Jayasena commentator of Pravacanasara of Kundakunda (III, 10) may mean: chedena vratabhedena upasthApanaM chedopasthApanam / tacca saMkSepeNa paMca-mahAvratarUpaM bhavati / / i.e. presentation of Sarnyama by cutting it into several distinct vows is called Chedopasthapana which briefly consists of the five vows. This is also what is meant by the author of Sarvarthasiddhi (IX, 18) when he says STYR1141 faarufafaat which is further explained in Raja-varttikka as sAvA karma hiMsAdibhedena vikalpanivRttiH chedopsthaapnaa| Viewed in the light of these explanations of Samayika and Chedopasathapana samyama, the statement in the Mulacara as set forth above is found to mean, so far as the distinct Characterstic of Parsvanatha's ascetic practice is concerned, that while Parsvanatha regarded all Samyama as one (Samayika, Mahavira classified it into five vows Chhedopasthanka). Let us now see whether this view finds any support in the Arhdha Magadhi Canon. The first statement that caught my eye in this context was Uttaradhyayana XXXIX, 8 which is as follows: sAmAieNa bhaMte jIve kiM jaNayai? sAmAieNa sAvajja-joga-viraiM jnnyi| Further, the statement Bhagavati (25, 7, 785) made the whole position clear. It is as follows: sAmAiyaMmi u kae cAujjAmaM aNuttaraM dhamma / viviheNa phAsayaMto sAmAiya-saMjao sa khalu / / chettUNaM ya pariyAgaM porANaM jo huvei appANaM / dhammammi paMcajAme chedovaTThANao sa khalu / / Here we are told beyond any possibility of doubt that Samaiya sanjama itself involves Caujjama while splitting of the vows into five restraints would constitute the Chhedovatthaniyam. If we leave for the moment the word Caujjama out of consideration the distinction between Samayika and Chhedopasthapana is

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170 Lord Mahavira exactly the same as has been explained above according to the Mulacara tradition, namely, observing purity and freedom from all sinful deeds without any categories is Samayika while splitting the same into classes, which happen in the present case to be five, is Chedopasthanika Samyama. According to Ayaranga ( II, 15, 1013) Lord Mahavira adopted the Samayika Samyama at the time of the renunciation. This is described as follows: tao NaM samaNe bhagavaM mahAvIre dAhiNeNaM dAhiNaM vAmeNaM vAmaM paMcamuTThiyaM loyaM karettA siddhANaM NamokkAraM karei / karettA savvaM me akaraNijjaM pAvakammaM 'tti kaTTu sAmAiyaM cArittaM paDi vajjai / sAmaiyaM carittaM paDivajjittA devaparisaMmaNuya parisaMca AlikkhacittabhUyamiva tthvei|' Here not only the lord is said to have adopted the Samaiya Sanjama, but the nature of the Samaiya Sanjama is also explained, namely, 'I renounce all sinful acts'. There is here no mention of any kinds of vows. But when he attained omniscience he preached the Five Great Vows: tao NaM samaNe bhagavaM mahAvIre uppaNa - NANadaMsaNa - dhare goyamAINaM NiggaMthAgaM paMcama-havvayAiM sabhAvaNAiM chajjIvaNikAyAiM Aikkhai bhAsai parUveiM (2, 15, 1024) Thus Lord Mahavira was himself observing the all comprehensive and omnibus Samayika Samyama and it was only after his enlightenment that he preached the Five Vows i.e., Chedovatthaniyama. Some fresh light is thrown on the subject by Siddhasena Gani.Commenting on Tatvartha Sutra IX, 18 after explaining the word Samayika etymologically, he says:--- sAmAyikaM dviprakAram-itvara- kAlaM yAvajjIvikaM ca / tatrAdyaM prathamAntya - tIrthakara - tIrthayoH pravrajyApratipattAvAropitaM zAstraparijJAdhyayanAdividaH zraddadhataH chedopasthApya-saMyamAropaNaviziSTatara- tvAda virateH sAmAyika-vyapadezaM jahAtItyata itvara- kAlam / madhyam-tIrthakRtAM videhakSetrartinAM ca yAvajjIvikaM, pravrajyA pratinattikAlAdArabhya AprANa-prayANa-kAlAdavatiSThate / prathamAntya-tIrthaMkara-ziSyANAM sAmAnya- sAmAyikaparyAyacchedo vizuddhatara- sarvasAvadya-yogaviratAvavasthAnaM viviktatara- mahAvratAropaNaM chedopasthApanamaH / chedopasthApanameva chAdopasthApyama, pUrva - paryAyacchede sati uttara- paryAye upasthApanam, bhAve yato vidhAnAta / tadapi dvidhA, niraticAra- sAticAra-bhedena / tatra zikSakasya niraticAramadhIt - viziSTAdhyayanavidaH madhyama-tIrthaMkara - ziSyo vA yadopasampadyate carama - tiirthNkr-shissyaannaamiti|

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The Practice of the Earlier Tirthankaras 171 sAticAraM tu bhagna-mUlaguNasya punavratAropaNAt chedopsthaapym| ubhayaM caitata sAticAraM niraticAraM ca sthitakalpa eva, Adyanta-tIrthaMkarayorevetyarthaH / This may be translated as follows: 'Samayika' is of two kinds namely temporary and life long. The former is called temporary during the age of the First and the Last Tirthankaras it being assumed at the time of initiation (Pravrajya), abandons the name Samayika when the renunciation becomes more specialised by the assumption of Chedopasthapya by the faithful ascetic having acquired the knowledge of Sastraparijna adhyayana and the like. The Samayika is life-long in the case of the middle Tirthankaras as well as of those of Videha Ksetra, because beginning with the time of taking Pravajya, it subsists till the time of life departs. In the case of the followers of the first and the last Tirthankara there is the discard of the general Samayika-paryaya followed by resort to purer renunciation of all sinful activities and assumption of more distinct Maha-vratas which constitute the Chedopasthapya Samyama. Chedopasthapanani and Chedopasthapyam mean the same thing, namely abandonment of the former status and assumption of the subsequent status. This Chedopasthapana is also of two kinds, namely faultless and faulty of these, it is faultless in the case of a teacher who has acquired the knowledge of the particular Adhyayam by studying the same, or in the case of a disciple of the middle Tirthankaras when he takes Upasampada from the disciples of the first or the last Tirthankaras. It is faulty Chedopasthapya when one breaks the Mula-gunas and assumes the vratas once again. Both these kinds of Chedopasthapya, namely, faulty and faultless, hold good only the Sthita-kalpa, th is to say, in the age of the first and the last Tirthankaras only. Here, we learn without a shadow of doubt that the followers of Parsvanatha observed Samayika Samyama only all their life, while in the case of the followers of Mahavira it formed a temporary phase and when the probationary period was over after the pravrajya, the disciple took Upasthapana by assuming the distinct Mahavratas. It envisages two stages of ascetic life, one being called Parvrajya and the other Upasthapana or Upasampada, like what we find in Buddhism and also in Christianity called Baptism and

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172 Lord Mahavira confirmation. We find this same kind of initiation described at the beginning of the Chapter of Caritra in the Pravacanasara of Kundakunda. Both niraticara and saticara Chedopasthapana is dealt with here, although the commentators have generally missed the point and have got confused with the two meanings of Cheda. The following verses are particularly noteworthy: AdAya taM piliMga gurUNA parameNa taM namaMsittA / soccA savadaM kiriyaM uvaTThido hodiso samaNo ||7|| vada-samidiMdiyarodho locAvassayamacelamaNahANaM / khidisayaNamadaMtavaNaM ThidibhoyaNamegabhattaM ca ||8|| de khalu mUlaguNA samaNANaM jiNavarehi paNNattA / te suDapamatto samaNo chedovaTThANago hodi / / 6 / / chedesu a vadhgA sesA NijjAvagA samaNA / / 10 / / On these verses a few remarks of the commentator Amritachandra may also be noted; tataH sarva-sAvadya yoga-pratyAkhyAna lakSaNaika - mahAvrata zravaNAtmanA zrutajJAzanena samaye bhavantamAtmAnaM jAnan sAmAyikamadhirohati / tataH samastAvadya - karmAyatanaM kAyamutsRjya yathAjAtarUpaM svarUpamekamekAgreNAmAmvya vyavatiSThamAna upasthito bhavati / upasthitavastu sarvatra samadRSTitvAcchramaNo bhavati ||7|| sarva-sAvadya-yoga-pratyAkhyAna- lakSaNaikamahAvratavyaktavazena hiMsAnRta- steyAbrahmaparigraha-viratyAtmakaM paJcatayaM vrataM tatparikarazca paJcatayI samitiH paJcataya indriyarodhaH... vikalpenAtmAnamupasthApayana chedopasthApako bhavati / / 8-6 / / yato liMga-grahaNa kAle nirvikalpa - sAmAyika - saMyama- pratapAdakatvena yaH kilAcAryaH pravrajyAdAyakaH sagurUH yaH punarantaraM savikalpa - chedopasthApana-saMyama-pratipAdakatvena cheva pratyupasthApakaH sa niyApakaH / yo 'pi chinna-saMyama-pratisaMdhAna-vidhAna pratipAdakatvena chedesati upasthApakaH so'pi niryApaka eva / tatazchedopasthApakaH paro'pyasti / / 10 / / We may not pay our attention to Caujjama which looks so large in the Ardha-Magadhi literature in connection with the teachings of Parsvanatha. Unfortunately it is nowhere made clear what is exactly meant by that word, except once in Thananga (S. 329) where the four are enumerated as savvAo pANAivAyAo veramaNaM, evaM musAvAyAo, adinnAdANAo, savvAo vahiddhAdANAo veramaNaM /

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173 The Practice of the Earlier Tirthankaras Taking their start from this, the commentators try to explain either that the additional vow is implied in the fourth (See Com. of Abhayadeva on Thananga) or that the four become five by the addition of a fifth, namely Maithuna-Viramana (see Shantiyacharya's Com. on Uttara. XXIII, 23.). But it is not worthy that the comm ntators do not claim that the task of splitting the fourth vow of Parsvanatha into two and thus making them five was accomplished by Lord Mahavira. On the contrary the two namely Caujjama and Panca-Mahavrata systems are always clearly distinguished from each other. In the Uttaradhyayana, for example, the one is called 'Caujjama' and the other 'Panca-sikkhio'. At other places Mahavrata is substituted in places of 'Sikkha'. But an exception to this is found in Bhagavati XXV, 7, 785 quoted above, where it is said that a Samayika Sanjaya is he who observes Caujjama in doing the Samayika, while the one who splits the old pariyaga and settles himself in the Panca-jama is indeed Chedovatthava. Here although panca-jama are said to be evolved by splitting Pariyaga into two, Mahavira is not mentioned as the author of the split. A little close examination of the statement in Bhagavati is necessary. According to it 'there is unsurpassed Caujjama dhamma' in doing 'Samaiya'. What could it mean? If we interpret it that in Samayika four vows are observed, then firstly the word Samayika loses all its meaning and significance as explained above, namely, the omnibus abstention from all evil deeds without a distinction (Savva-savajja-jog-nivitti). Secondly, it becomes ridiculous to say that if instead of four vows one observes five, then he is Chedovatthaniya, particularly when it is always presumed that the four include the five. It would be Chedopasthapana even if only two vows are counted as such. Obviously, there is some mistake in understanding the word Caujjama. Let us turn to the information called from the Pali canonical books. In the Samanna-phala-sutta of the Digha Nikaya, Catuyama is explained as follows: idha mahArAja, nigaNNaTho cAtuyAma-saMvara-saMvuto hoti / kathaMca mahArAja, nigaNTho, cAtuyAma-saMvara-saMvuto hoti ? idha mahArAja, nigaNTho savva-vAri-vArito ca hoti, savva-vAri-yuto ca, savva-vAri-dhuto ca, savva-vAri- puTTho ca / evaM kho mahArAja, nigaNTho cAtuyAma - saMvara-saMto fa (D.N. (Part 1) Bombay University Publication p. 69).

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Lord Mahavira Now let us examine the contents of this Catuyama. Dr. Rhys David's translation of the passage quoted above from Digha-Nikiya is as follows: 174 "A Nigantha, Oh king, is restrained with a fourfold selfrestraint, he lives restrained as regards all water; restrained as regards all evil; all evil has he washed away; and he lives suffised with the sense of evil held at lay." The reference to water in the translation is obviously a mistake which had been given currency by a commentator on the Pali text based upon the misunderstanding of the word 'Vari'. But except for that the translation seems to be satisfactory and it brings out very well the spirit and emphasis of Samayika samyama expressed in its definition, namely 'Savva-savajja-joganivitti. The word savva remains intact and savajja-joga-nivitti is found briefly substituted by the word 'Vari' (i.e. varana) in the Pali text. It may be regarded as a commentary on the Bhagavati tev+ Samaiyammi u kae caujjamam anuttaram dhammam". But the fourfold Yama still remains a bit doubtful. Dr. Rhys Davids is quite emphatic in his non-acceptance of the first four of the five vows to be meant here. She says: "Prof. Jacobi (Jaina Sutras II-XXII) thinks the 'Four Restraints' are intended to represent the four vows kept by the followers of Parsva. But this surely cannot be so, for these vows are quite different". In my opinion, if the contents of the Catuyama were categorically recognised to be Ahimsa etc. the Buddhist tradition could never have missed it so completely. This does not mean that virtues Ahimsa etc. were not implied. I am sure they were, but probably in the same way as the fourth vow is said to have been included under the fifth. The Samyama was one allcomprehensive and it included absention from all evil like violence, falsehood etc. Of this Samayika samyama or Sarilvara, there must have been four facets emphasising the method of restraint as suggested by the Pali tradition. It may be something like the triyoga i.e. by mind, word and deed. In the Thananga itself (S. 385) we find it laid down cauvvihe saMjame paNNatte / taM jahA maga saMjame, vai-saMjame, kAya-saMjame, uvagaraNa-saMjame /

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The Practice of the Earlier Tirthankaras 175 These may have been the four Yamas or methods of restraint. Or to the three, the senses may have been added as the fourth like what we find in the Mulacara : virado savva-sAvajja pihididio| jIvo sAmAiyaM NAmasaMjamaTThANamuttamaM / / 7, 23 / / While this point of the four may be still open for investigation, I think it is fairly clear how the system of Parsavanath was Samayika while that of Mahavira Chedopasthanika and on this point both the Digambara and Svetambara traditions agree. If we have to make the Buddhist statements about catuyama significant, we might understand them as follows: 1. saba-vAri-vArito-Guarded against all channels of evil i.e. ___ Azrava-rahita 2. savva-vAri-yuto- Requipped with all kinds of saMvara 3. savva-vAri-dhuto- Absolved of all evil NijjarAyukta 4. savva-vAri-puTTho- Manifestly free from sin mukta

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14 JAINISM UPTO THE LAST VICTOR* -S.R. Goyal Jainism before Parsvanatha In the age of Mahavira Jainism was known as Nigantha Dhamma (Nirgranthism). It was called as such because it laid great stress on non-possession and on renunciation of the house (agara or grha) which was considered a knot (grantha). It was also known by the general name Sramapa dharma (Sramanism), a term which was applied to all non-Brahmanical sects. It believed that the conquest of the evil tendencies of attachment and hatred was the real end. As the promulgators of this ideal were regarded as Jinas (victors), their followers were given the name Jaina and their religion came to be known as Jainism. The Jainas claim a great antiquity for their religion? They believe that Mahavira, the contemporary of the Buddha, was their twenty fourth Tirthankara (the founder of faith). A list of the names of all the Tirthankaras is given in a subsequent section of this Chapter?. The Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu gives us the life-history of each Tirthankara or Jina3 Rshabhadeva or Adinatha stands first in this list. He is mentioned even in the Vishnu and the Bhagavala Puranas as a great saint-king belonging to a very remote past. Further, as we have seen in Chapter 5, in the Rigveda itself there are found traces of the existence of religious thinkers known as Munis and Sramanas who may be regarded as the precursors of the Jaina faith. H. L. Jain even claims to have found a mention of Rishabhadeva in the Rigveda (see p. 97). According to later tradition he was a son of Marudevi and Nabhi, queen and king of Kosala. After deep and long meditation he received Kevala Jnana or the highest knowledge. He is said to have led a community of A Religious History of Ancient India upto C.1200 A.D.) Volume one, Kusumanjali Prakashan Meerut.

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 177 84,000 sramanas, 3,00,000 nuns and other lay devotees. He renounced his kingdom in favour of his sons and embraced the life of an ascetic. According to the Jaina tradition, at the time of the Mahabharata war, the Order was led by Neminatha, the twentysecond Tirthankara who is said to have belonged to the same Yadava family as Kishpa. If the Mahabharata war was fought in the 9th century B.C., a theory to which we are inclined to subscribe4 Neminatha may also be assigned to that period. It imparts some strength to his historicity because Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara is usually placed in the eighth century B.C. The historicity of other Tirthankaras who preceded Neminatha is as yet a matter entirely of the Jaina faith. Parsvanatha Jainism gathered particular strength during the eighth century B.C. under Parsvanatha6. He is said to have been the son of Vama, wife of Asvasena, king of Banaras. He was the people's favourite or beloved of men' (Purisadaniya). He lived for 30 years as a householder. Then "after fasting 31/2 days without drinking water, he put on a divine robe and together with 300 men... entered the state of huselessness." On the 84th day of his deep meditation he obtained Kevala jnana. Subsequently, he had "an excellent community of 16,000 sramanas with Aryadatta at their head", numerous others with separate heads and 2,000 female disciples. Parsva died at the age of 100 'on the summit of Mount Sammeta' (Parasnath or Paresanatha here, near Gomoh railway station) about 250 years before Mahavira's death. This gap between him and Mahavira, usually regarded as true, places him in the 8th century B.C. The religion of Parsva was called 'chaujjama dhamma' (chaturyama dharma) enjoining four vows of abstinence from violence (panaivaya or himsa), untruth (mushavaya or asatya), stealing (adinnadana or steya) and possession (bahiddhadana or parigraha). According to Jaina scholars though the vow of chastity (maithunavirainana or brahrhacharya) is not explicitly stated, yet it is implied in the 4th vow of aparigraha. These four vows show that Parsva based his order of monks on moral principles and his first vow of non-violence suggests that he raised his voice of protest

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Lord Mahavira 178 against animal sacrifices of the Vaidic Brahmanas. According to the Acharanga Mahavira's parents, who were worshippers of Parsva, 'repented confessed and did penance according to their sins, and of bed of Kusa grass rejected all food their bodies drying up by the last mortification of the flesh which ends in death.' This shows Parsva's leanings towards repentance and self-mortification. He apparently taught that self-control (samyama) results in the cessation of karman and penance leads to its annihilation. From the Kalpasutras we learn that Parsva had organised his Church by bringing all his disciples under four classes (monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen) each headed by a Ganadhara. Pushpachula was the chief controller (ganini) of the nunnery. The mention of nuns and laywomen suggests that he did not neglect women. The belief in the historicity of Parsva is confirmed by the Jaina canon which not only gives us some idea of his doctrines but preserves anecdotes about his followers. The account of Kesi, one of his disciples, in the canonical books is quite realistic. He is said to have converted King Paesi to the faith of Parsva. He also held a disputation with Goyama (Gautama Indrabhuti), the chief disciple of Mahavira. Several other disciples of Parsva' are said to have expressed a desire to exchange the religion of the four vows of Parsva for the one with five vows of Mahavira. As noted above, even the parents of Mahavira are said to have belonged to the lay following of Parsva. Moreover, Jacobi has conclusively shown that a Buddhist Sutra (Samannaphalasutta) mistakenly attributes to Mahavira the religion of the four vows, which really belonged to Parsva. Such a mistake could only have occurred if Parsva actually had some followers at that time. The conversation between Kesi and Goyama (Gautama) in the Uttaradhayayan testifies to the friendly relations between the followers of Parsva and Mahavira and points out that, in spite of some minor differences, the two were essentially the same. By the very nature of the case, tradition has preserved only those points of Parsva's teachings which differed from the religion of Mahavira, while all the common points are ignored. The main outward difference between the two sects was that Parsva allowed the use of a white garment by the monks, while Mahavira forbade even this. Hence the two Jaina sects are entitled Svetambara (white-clad) and Digambara (sky-clad or naked). But such differences that are few in number make

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 179 Mahavira definitely a reformer of an existing faith, and the addition of a vow, the emphasis on nudity and a more systematic arrangement of its philosophical tenets may be credited to his reforming zeal. This fact is also brought out by the traditional life of Mahavira. We are told that unlike the Buddha, who at the beginning of his spiritual career lived with some teachers with whose teachings he became dissatisfied and finally found out the truth for himself, Mahavira followed a well established creed, obviously that of Parsva equally significant is the absence in Jainism of anything equal to Buddha's insistence that his followers should remember well his first sermon, suggestive of its novelty. Above all, the early Buddhist literature makes it quite clear that it regarded Mahavira not as a founder of a new sect, but merely as a leader of an already existing religious community. 10 As the nature of pre-Mahavira Jaina doctrines is not fully known, some speculative thinking by modern scholars on this subject has been natural. 11 According to R. Williams some aspects of later Jainism may be regarded as ascribable to a pre-Mahavira and indeed a pre-Parsva period. Among these he includes sallekhana (when the body is cast aside like leaves shed by a tree); the pursuit of an ascetic way of life characterised by nudity and posessionlessness but not by brahmacharya', the use of some forms of worship including the ritual posture of devotion called Kayotsarga and the observance of ahimsa devolving from the postilations of forms of life such as prthvikayas, vayu-kayas, tejakayas and vanaspati kayas. These last elements, usually termed animistie, are the proof and measure of the antiquity of Jainism. Williams also believes that the ideals from which they evolved was particularly popular in Gujarat and were associated with a system of number magic in which the figure four was of paramount importance and the cult of sacred mountains, one of which, namely Girnar, was closely linked with Neminatha. 12 Life of Mahavira Mahavira was born in a suburb of Vaisali, called Kundagrama, now known as Basukunda. His original name was Vardhamana. The more popular name Mahavira is said to have been bestowed on him by the gods. He has also been given a number of epithets like Nayaputta 'a scion of the Naya clan',

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180 Lord Mahavira Kasava on account of his gotra, Vesaliya after his place of birth, and Vedehadinna after his native country. The Naya clan to which he belonged is known as Nata (or Nata) in Pali and Jnatr in Sanskrit. His parents were Siddhartha, a wealthy nobleman, and Trisala, also called Priyakarini and Videhadatta, sister of Cefaka, the Lichchhavi chief. According to the Svetambara tradition his embryo was transferred from the womb of the Brahmania lady Devananda13 wife of Rshabha, to that of Kshattriyani Trisala. Since a Brahman or a woman of any other low family was not worthy to give birth to a Tirthankara. As the Kalpasutra states the king of gods on learning of the descent of Mahavira into the womb of Devaranda reflected, "It never has happened, nor does it happen, nor will it happen that Arhats, Chakravartins, Baladevas or Vasudevas, in the past, present or future should be born in low families, poor families, indigent families, beggars' families or Brahmanical families. 14 In the Canon Mahavira himself speaks of Devananda as his mother and of the role of Harinegamesi in the transference of the embryo. A sculpture from Mathura also represents this scene.15 At the normal age Mahavira was married to Yasoda (daughter of King Samaravira of Vasantapura or of King Jitasatru of Kalinga) who gave birth to a daughter called Anojja or Priyadarsana. She was married to his sister's son Jamali, whose name is not found in older sources. It may have been due to the ignominous role he played in the first schism of the Jaina Church. As he did not wish to grieve his parents, Mahavira renounced the world only after their death and that too after taking the permission of his elder brother Nandivardhana. He was at that time 30 years old. After entering the life of houselessness he wore clothes for a year and a month and then walked about naked. For more than 12 years he neglected his body and practised extreme self mortification. The Acharanga gives us a beautiful picture of the way in which he performed his meditation and spent his days in austerities, and also of the treatment he received from the unfriendly people of the neighbouring countries. He was born with three types of knowledge. During the 13th year outside the town Jrmbhika grama on the bank of the river Rupalika, not far from an old temple, in the field of the householder Samaga, under a sala tree he obtained the fourth type of knowledge or

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 181 Omniscience (Kevala jnana). An important event of Mahavira's life was his meeting with Gosala Mankhaliputta, the head of the Ajivika sect. According to the one-sided account of the Bhagavatisutra Gosala became a pupil of Mahavira in the second year of his monkhood and remained with him for six years. Then came a breach between the two on the point of rejuvenation (supra) and may be, also on other points. Gosala proclaimed himself a Jina and lived in Sravasti. The two met again sixteen years later and again quarrelled. Gosala died soon after, some 16 years before Mahavira. 16 Whether Mahavira had been a pupil of Gosala or vice versa is a debatable question, but there are parallelisms between the Ajivika and the Jaina doctrines. According to Jacobi it is quite probable that some rigid Jaina rules for monks came from the code of the Ajivikas. 17 Some significance may also be attached to the coincidence of Mahavira giving up his garment in the year of his meeting with Gosala. It would explain to some extent as to why does the Jaina Canon make frequent attempts at refuting the Ajivika doctrines in strong language while it takes hardly any note of the Buddhist religion. On the other hand, the Pali canon quite often refutes the teachings of Mahavira along with those of Gosala and other teachers (Titthiyas). With the acquisition of omniscience, Mahavira entered on his career as a religious teacher. The last 30 years of his life were spent in teaching his religion and organising the Jaina sangha. He used to wander for eight months of the year and spend the four months, of the rainy season in some famous town. The Jaina tradition gives the names of the places where he spent one or more rainy seasons. He stayed for the first rainy season in Astikagrama, three rainy seasons in Champa and Prshticampa, twelve in Vaisali and Vaniyagrama, fourteen in Rajagaha and the suburb of Nalanda, six in Mithila, two in Bhadrika, one in Albhika, one in Palitabhumi, one in Sravasti, and one in the town of Pava. This record shows how did Mahavira wander over wide areas for preaching Jainism. It also gives us a fair idea of the country over which he wandered propagating his faith, though we must remember that the list is neither exhaustive and nor chronological.

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182 Lord Mahavira Mahavira underwent many sufferings during his spiritual career, specially in the pathless country of the Ladhas, in the Vajjabhumi and Subbabhumi, where 'the dogs hit him, ran at him' and the people used abusive language and asked him to go away. However, he enjoyed extensive royal patronage also. Srenika Bimbisara, the king of Magadha, was devoted to Mahavira and was related with him on Mahavira's mother's side. The Jaina attempt to explain away the particidal act of Bimbisara's son Kunika Ajatasatru suggests that Ajatasatru was more inclined to Jainism than to any other religion. Later Jaina tradition brings nearly all the kings of north India in those days in relation to Mahavira by describing their queens as daughters of Cetaka, the maternal uncle of Mahavira. At first Mahavira wandered single, but gradually he became surrounded with monks and nuns. He organised them into a sangha into which the church of Parsva was obviously merged. He had an excellent community of 14,000 Sramanas with Indrabhuti at their head, several thousand nuns with Chandana as their leader and innumerable lay-votaries and hundreds of sages to preach his tenets. 18 The Kalpasutra states that he had nine Ganas and eleven Ganadharas. His eleven Ganadharas were Indrabhuti, Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Aryavyakta, Sudharaman, Mandikaputra, Mauryaputra, Akampita, Achalabhratr, Metarya and Prabhasa, each of whom had a large body of Samanas whom they had taught. All these eleven Ganadhara Qare said to have died at Rajagrha after 'fasting a month without drinking water'. The Kalpasutra mentions 14 other disciples and numerous sthaviras who had preached Jainism in different channels (Sakhas). Sudharman, the fifth of the eleven Ganadharas, became the head of the Jaina church after Mahavira and was in turn succeeded by his chief disciple, Janbu. 19 The Uvasagadasao tells us of ten chief lay devotees of Mahavira; (1) Ananda and his wife, (2) Kamadeva, (3) Chulaniniya, (4) Suradeva, (5) Chullasayaga, (6) Kundakoljya (who met Gosala but remained unshaken in the faith of Mahavira), (7) Saddaiaputta, (8) Mahasayaga, (9) Nandipipaya and (10) Sajihipiya.20 At the age of 72 Mahavira died at a place called Majjhima Pava (which may suggest that, contrary to his usual practice, he

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 183 resided inside the town on account of his illness) in the house of a ruler of the name of Hastipala (Hatthivala). This place is said to be the modern Pavapurl (Patna District). We are told that on the night of his death the kings of the two clans, the Mallas and the Lichchhavis, celebrated the lamp festival in his honour. 21 The date of Mahavira, like that of the Buddha, occupies a very important place in ancient Indian chronology. Generally speaking, two dates of Mahavira's death hold the field. They are (1) 527 B.C. (supported by Hoernle, Guerinot, etc.) and (2) 467 B.C. (accepted by Jacobi, Charpentier, etc.). The former is based on the tradition recorded by Merutunga, the famous Jaina author, who flourished in the fourteenth century. According to him Mahavira entered Nirvana 470 years before the commencement of the Vikrama era (that is in 57+470=527 B.C.).22 The second date, i.e. 467 B.C. is based on a tradition recorded by Hemachandra (1088-1172 A.D.), who says that 155 years after the liberation of Mahavira Chandragupta Maurya became king (Sthaviravalicharita, Parisishtaparvan, VIII. 339). However elsewhere we have given reasons to believe that Mahavira died three years earlier than Buddha's nirvana in 483 B.C. His death therefore took place in 486 B.C. and birth in 558 B.C. Jaina Tenents: Jiva and Ajiva Tattvas From a study of the evolution of the Jaina Canon (infra, Ch. 9) it is obvious that not much of the discourses of Mahavira has survived in its original form. But the remarkable conservatism of Jainism makes it possible that the fundamentals of the creed, as it is found in the present Canon, "are very old indeed and essentially those of Mahavira.24 Like Buddhism, original Jainism believed in dukkhavada, theory of karman and samsara (transmigration). Further like Buddhism it rejected the authority of the Vedas and attached no importance to the cult of sacririces. But here the similarities between the two end (infra, p. 191 f.), for the detailed teachings of Mahavira follow the course of pluralistic realism. His religion was primarily a teaching of severe discipline, founded on the philosophical basis of the primordial duality and opposition of Jiva (spirit) and ajiva (matter). His philosophy might be summed up in one me sentence: The living and the non-living by coming into contact with each other, forge

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184 Lord Mahavira certain energies which bring about birth, death and various experiences of life; this process could and must be stopped, and the energies already forged destroyed by a course of discipline leading to salvation.25 This statement involves seven propositions: first, there is something called the living (jiva); secondly, there is something called the non-living (ajiva), thirdly, the two come into contact with each other (asrava); fourthly the contact leads to the production of some energies (bandha), fifthly the process of contact could be stopped (samvara), sixthly, the existing energies could also be exhausted (nirjara), and lastly, salvation (moksha or mukti) could by achieved. These seven propositions are called the seven tattvas or realities by the Jainas. 26 The first two of these seven propositions--that there is a jiva or soul and that there is an ajiva or non-soul-exhaust between them all that exists in the universe. The soul or jiva by itself, is imperceptible, but its presence may be known by the presence of its gunas (qualities) in a material body. Its essential characteristic is consciousness, which is accompanied by sense activity, respiration, and a certain period of existence in a particular body. There is an infinite number of such souls in the universe both of immobile (sthavara) and mobile (trasa) kinds. They retain their individuality through out and acquire the shape of the body in which they reside. Consciousness being the characteristic of a soul, knowledge is inherent in every living being27 but its stage of development differs. It may be knowledge derived through senses (mati jnana) or through scriptures (sruta jnana), or of objects remote from one in time and space (avadht jnana), or of others' mind (manah paryaya jnana) or supreme knowledge (kevala jnana). Jivas are by nature perfect, possessed of the qualities of infinite perception, infinite knowledge28 infinite power and infinite bliss. There is no God or Supreme soul over and above them. But with the exception of only a few of them they have fallen into the grip of matter and are being formed by it through a round of existence as samsari or living beings.29 The soul's subjection to pudgala or matter is the result of its own activities. Affected by affection, aversion or infatuation the soul generates a sort of magnetic energy and attracts to itself the infra-atomic particles of matter called karman. Karman, the immaterial principle "Of other

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 185 Indian religions, is thus conceived of as a matter in Jainism. However, the Jainas hold that even in the state of bondage soul's power of action is not wholly lost, though its exercise in the absence of true knowledge only leads to more bondage. It was a cardinal principle with the Jainas that though man's own actions are responsible for his troubles yet he is capable of working out his own salvation. This is what is meant by their calling themselves Karmavadins and Kriyavadins. 30 The second reality or tattua is ajiva, the lifeless substance, whose chief characteristic is that it lacks consciousness: It is of five kinds:-pudgala, dharma, adharma, akasa and kala. Together with jiva, these five categories of ajiva constitute the six real substances (dravyas) that exist in the universe. Pudgala denotes matter or material objects in general. It is the physical basis of the universe just as the jiva tattva is the psychical. The elements of nature-earth, water, fire, and airare all gross manifestations of matter. It is uncreated, indestructible, and real; so, the material world is not a figment of imagination but is substantially real, real independently of the perceiving mind. The test for assessing the realistic aspect of any philosophical system is the question: 'Does the world exist outside the perceiving mind or not?' If the answer is that it exists independently of one's own perception, it is symptomatic of the realist position; if not, it indicates an idealist philosophy. The basic definition of pudgala which stands for matter in Jainism is "that which can be experienced by the five sense organs." Hence the Jaina philosophy is a realist philosophy. Each sense organ is capable of giving the perceiver one type of knowledge of the external world; the sum total of the knowledge thus derived represents the various aspects of the world. According to Jainas a second definition of matter is arrived at from the etymology of the word pudgala. The term pud refers to the process of combination and gala stands for dissociation. Therefore matter is that which undergoes modifications by combinations and dissociations. The exact significance of this definition can be gathered by analysing the Jaina view of the ultimate constituents of matter. When any object is divided, the parts obtained by division can be further divided; but the process of division cannot be indefinitely continued; for sooner or later a

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186 Lord Mahavira position is reached when no further division possible. This is truly the ultimate constituent of matter, referred to by the term anu or paramanu (atom)in Jaina philosophy. The combination of such atoms gives rise to the molecules referred to as Skandash. It is the combination of molicules that is responsible for the different types of objects, possessing varying qualities. It is also held that 'out of molecules composed of even a large number of atoms, some are visible and some invisible. The visibility or general perceivability of the molecules is dependent on the combined process of division and addition. Molecules or skandhas are of six types -(i) Bhadra-bhadra: This type of skandha (such as solids) when split cannot regain the original, undivided form. (ii) Bhadra: When split this type of skandha (such as liquids) has the capacity to join together, (iii) Bhadrasukshma. This type of skandha appears gross but is really subtle. It can neither be split nor is capable of being pierced through or taken up in hand. Sun, heat, shadow, light, darkness, etc. are the examples of this type. (iv) Sukshma-bhadra: This type of skandha also appears gross but is also subtler 'Sensations of touch, smell, colour and sound are typical examples of this type. (v) and (vi): Both of these are extremely subtle and beyond senseperception. The particles of karman are cited as their example. The Jaina view of Reality as Identity and Change is clearly reflected in its atomic theory. The changes we experience in the objects are due to the different mode of combination of atoms, but underlying all the changing modes is the fact that there is the identity of the ultimate constituents, the atoms. The atoms themselves do not change, only the modes of their combinations undergo that change, producing the various objects. 31 The second kind of ajiva is named dharma. It is quite imperceptible, though it fills the entire universe of life and matter (lokakasa). It has none of the characteristic qualities of life or matter, but forms the medium of motion, which is possible only through its existence. 32 Adharma is the necessary counterpart of dharma. It also pervades the whole universe and serves as a medium of rest, like the shade of a tree helping the way farer to stop for rest.' It will thus be seen that dharma and adharma are two non-physical, inactive conditions of movement and rest respectively, conceived

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 187 as real substances. They are different from righteousness and unrighteousness, for which the Jainas use the terms punya and papa. The fourth ajiva substance is akasa (space). Like dharma and adharma it is non-material. Its nature is to provide space for the existence of all other entities. However, unlike the other substances, it is infinite. Only a part of it, called the lokakasa', is occupied by other substances. The other part, which is void, is called alokakasa. Dharma, adharma and akasa are, thus, mediums or conditions of motion,' rest and subsistence respectively and all the three are interpenetrating. 33 The fifth and last ajiva substance is kala (time). It also pervades the whole lokakasa in the form of single, independent, minute points that never mix together to form a composite body. It brings about changes or modifications in all the other substances and affords them extension in time, which, by itself, is beginningless and endless. 34 These five varieties of ajiva, together with the Jiva, form the six substances (dravyas) that exist in the universe. Other Five Tattvas: Theory of Moksha The third tattva in the Jaina philosophy is the contact of the soul with matter (asrava). The Jainas do not postulate the existence of a God or Supreme being creating, destroying and recreating the world. Jivas exist in the world from time eternal in association with matter. The jiva is always surrounded by a large volume of fine matter called karman. This invades the jiva and settles down on it whenever the jiva is found to be affected by the activities of the body, mind or speech. This contact leads to the formation of what is called the karmana sarira (body of subtle karman maiter), corresponding to the linga or sukshma sarira (subtle body) of the Sankhya philosophy which accompanies the soul (two time) throughout life as well as in its migrations from one body to another.35 That the karmana sarira is formed of the actual matter is proved by the fact that it has both weight and matter. Bandha or bondage is the fourth reality in Jaina religion. The karmana sarira binds the soul in eight different ways. One may, by special efforts, shorten or prolong the effects of karmas. He can also (destroy or render ineffectual the existing bondages; this is the subject of the next two realities samvara and nirjara. Samvara is the

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188 Lord Mahavira prevention of fresh inflow of the karmas by systematic control of mental and physical activities and nirjara is the destruction of existing karmas by certain austerflies. Karmas might exhaust themselves by fructifying and leave the soul free. But this natural process must be hastened by deliberate effort. The best way of annihilating karmas is to practise tapas. Mortifying the physical self is an attack on karmas. It expels them from the soul before the time of their natural exhaustion. Jainism thus greatly underlines the value of asceticism and extols the practice of self-torture, fasting and even starving oneself to death.36 As pointed out by Winternitz there is a remarkable contradiction between this exaggerated love of death on the part of Jaina saints and their exaggerated fear of killing any living being. "Perhaps here one may recognise "a distinctly psychopathological element in much of self to are and self-abnegation that goes by the name of asceticism."37 It must also be admitted that according to the Jaina view what is outwardly death of a saint is really the last stage of his attainment of freedom. When one succeeds in destroying the existing karmas by austerities, the soul realizes its inherent qualities of supreme knowledge and unlimited happiness. It attains salvation (Moksha or Mukti), and becomes a perfect being-siddha. Moksa is the seventh tattva or reality. Liberated from the bondage of matter, the jiva 'at once rises to the top of the universe, above the highest heaven, where it remains in inactive omniscience and bliss through all eternity'. It recovers its pristine purity and power and exists in the state of Siddhahood (perfection) "without caste, unaffected by smell, without the sense of taste, without feeling, without form, without hunger, without old age, without death, without body, without Karma enjoying an endless unbroken calm.38 The Ratna Traya The quientessence of the Jaina theory of moksha is contained in the triratna concept of Samyagdarsana Samyak jnana and Samyag charitra. Samyagdarsana is considered to be the prime cause of moksha because it paves the way tonight knowledge and right conduct. The Yasastilaka tells us that "it is the prime cause of salvation just as the foundation is the mainstay of a palace, good luck that of beauty, life that of bodily enjoyment, royal power that of victory, culture that of nobility and policy that

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 189 of government". The Uttaradhyanasutra explains that right knowledge remains unattainable in the absence of right belief and rightness of conduct is out of the question without right knowledge. Samyagdarsana itself is defined as faith in the seven tattvas viz., Jiva, ajiva, asrava, bandha, samvara, nirjara and moksha. The Jaina argument is that a person who has faith in the seven tattvas (right faith) gains right knowledge (Samyak jnana)-right in the spiritual sense and not merely in the epistemological sense. Right knowledge or Samyak Jnana as spiritual knowledge enables the individual to appreciate the nature of the jiva in its proper perspective which in turn enables him to adopt the practical steps leading to moksha. This is right conduct (Samyagcharitra). Thus the integrated nature of the ethico-spiritual discipline leading to liberation was realized by the Jaina philosophers. This is evident from their belief that none of the three ratnas-- right faith, right knowledge or right conduct-can be pursued meaningfully and effectively in isolation. Faith, knowledge and ethical living-all three are regarded as important and significant for attaining salvation. The Jainas, however, insist that in the absence of faith the other two do not work. Modern psychology has also proved that 'faith' has in it the key to any cure. Theories of God and Pancha Parameshthins As observed earlier the Jaina philosophy is opposed to Srstivada. According to the Jainas there is no creation of the world, nor is there any Creator necessary to explain the nature of the world. Thus there is no place in Jainism for God as creator and distributor of prize for good conduct and punishment for bad deeds. By a God Jainism understands a liberated soul as well as the Tirtnankar, Imniscient Beings, who provide the highest ideal to which every soul can aspire. In this sense a God is an example to inspire and guide. Thus the Jaina conception of God is basically different from that of Hinduism. But Jainism lacks neither devotional fervour nor ceremonial rituals. The Jainas offer prayers to the liberated souls whom they look upon as Gods, worship them in the concret form of images and meditate on them 39 different types of devotion recognised in Jainism are stuti, vandana, pratima pujana, namasmarana, bhajana-kirtana, vinaya, vaiyavrttya, etc. 40

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190 Lord Mahavira Thus the Jaina view agrees with the Purva Mimansa in emphasizing the potency of karman as the basic principle of samsara (relative world) but differs from it in maintaining the doctrine of Sarvajnas. It, however, resembles Vedanta in holding that every individual jiva is potentially a Paramatman. According to the Jaina view after conquering all the karmas and destroying all the bonds or worldly attachments, the Self exists in its supreme purity as Siddha-parameshthin endowed with the qualities of infinite perception, infinite-knowledge, infinite bliss, and infinite power. Such a Parameshthin with infinite qualities is the conqueror of samsara, is the Jina, a God, and serves as the ideal to be aimed at by all persons who desire to escape from the cycle of transmigration. After the Siddha-parameshthins, the Jainas recognize the Arhat parameshthins. They represent a lower stage in liberation than the Siddha-parameshthin because they are still attached with a body. Otherwise there is no difference between the two. 41 They are important from the human point of view, because it is in this stage of Arhathood that the Arhats or Tirthankaras periodically reveal, for the benefit of the world, the path to salvation and the various Agamas or scriptures embodying the knowledge of the Ultimate Reality. That is why in the Jaina Onkara mantra the Arhats are placed before the Siddhas. The status of the Arhats corresponds to that of the founders of other religions and to the conception of the avataras. After destroying the karmaic bondages through tapas the Tirthankara attains omniscience in this world. He becomes free from wants and desires, remains uncontaminated by the defects of the body which still clings to him, is filled with universal love and mercy for all living beings, and spends his time in propounding the dharma for the benefit of the jivas that are still entangled in the bonds of the world. Such Tirthankaras appear in the world in different cosmic periods, a cosmic period according to the jaina philosophy consisting of an age of evolution and growth, followed by an age of dissolution and decay. The former is called utsarpini and the latter avasarpini, the two constituting the complete cosmic. 42 Besides the Siddha and Tirthankara parameshthins, Jainism recognizes three other kinds of beings who deserve reverence and worship from the devotees. These are the acharya-parameshthin,

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 191 upadhyaya parameshthin, and sadhu-parameshthin. Though they do not represent the stage of complete liberation, yet they mark important stages towards that goal. The acharya parameshthins are free from a .achment to external things and are sufficiently advanced in swiritual accomplishment so as to exercise the authority of initiating into the Jina dharma all those who seek to be initiated. The upadhyaya-parameshthins have no authority to initiate people into the Jina-dharma or to organize the Jaina sangha (organization). Their function is to popularize the Jinadharma, in order to help the souls entangled in samsara to reach perfection. They only educate and instruct the people. The sadhuparameshthins, the great souls, do not have any definite function, either of authority or of instruction, but still illustrate, through their conduct the path to salvation so that others, following their example, may accept the dharma and adopt the path of selfdiscipline and self-realization. These five kinds of being constitute the Panchaparameshthins the five kinds of persons worshipped by the Jainas as representing the ideal in life at the different stages of realization. The Jaina Divinities - The Jainas worship the images 43 of their Tirthankaras, gods and many subsidiary divinities. The Jaina gods and divinities are the various categories of superior beings. The Jaina texts like Achara Dinakara, Uttaradhyayanasutra and Abhidhana Chintamani give a classification of gods and goddesses and show that many of them were adaptations from the Brahmanical pantheon. The principal Jaina divinities are the 24 Tirthankaras or Jinas. Each of them is characterised by his respective cognisance, which is usually carved in the centre of the pedestal of his image. They also have their individual Upasakas and Sasandevatas, who are sometimes described in the texts as the attendant Yakshas and Yakshinis. The main order of the Jaina divine hierarchy can be shown thus in a tabular form.44 Name of the Jina Cognisance Upasaka Sasanadevta 1. Adinatha Bull Gomukha Chakresvari 2. Ajitanatha Elephant Mahayaksha Ajitabala 3. Sambhavanatha Horse - Trimukha Duritari

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192 Lord Mahavira 4. Abhinandananatha Monkey Yakshanayaka Kalika 5. Sumatinatha Krauncha bird Tumburu Mahakali 6. Padmaprabha Lotus Kusuma Syama 7. Suparsvanatha Svastika Matanga Santa 8. Chandraprabha Moon Vijaya Bhikuti 9. Suvidhinatha Makara Ajita Sutaraka 10. Sitalanatha Srivatsa Brahma Asoka 11. Sreyamsanatha Rhinoceros Yakshet Manavi 12. Vasupujya Buffalo Kumara Chanda 13. Vimalanatha Boar Shanmukha Vidita 14. Anantanatha Falcon Patala Ankusa 15. Dharmanatha Thunderbolt Kinnara Kandarpa 16. Santinatha Deer Garuda Nirvani 17. Kunthunatha Goat Gandharva Bala 18. Aranatha Nandyavarta Yakshet Dharini 19. Mallinatha Pitcher Kubera Dharanapriya 20. Munisuvrata Tortoise Varuna Narandatta 21. Naminatha Blue lotus Bhrkuti Gandhari 22. Neminatha Conchshell Gomedha Ambika 23. Parsvanatha Snake Parsva Padmavati 24. Mahavira Lion Matanga Siddhayika One of the earliest stone images in round found in India, from Lohaniput in Patna belonging to the Maurya-Sunga period is regarded as the image of a Tirthankara. The above table shows that there are some overlappings and repetitions in the nomenclature of the individual Yakshas or Upasakas (No. 7 and 24 and II and 18) and in one instance the name of a Sasnadevi occurs also as that of an Upasaka (No. 8 and 21). There is no doubt that this elaborate grouping was the result of gradual growth and became stereotyped at a later period. The subsidiary deities of the Jainas have been variously classified. Among them are included Hindu deities such as SriLakshmi, Ganesa, Kubera, etc. and also the Navagrahas, the Digpalas, the Vidyadevis and the Matrkas. The Vidyadevis are sixteen in number. They include Rohini, Prajnapti, Kali, Mahakali, Gauri, Manavi, etc. and are headed by Sarasvati. Theory of Knowledge: Saptanaya and Syadvada The Jainas admit five kinds of knowledge: mati (knowledge by means of senses and mind, including smrti and tarka), sruti (knowledge by testimony), avadhi (knowledge of things even at a

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 193 distance of time and place, that is by clairvoyance), manahparayaya (direct knowledge of the thoughts of others as in telepathy) and kevala (perfect omniscience unlimited by space, time or objects). The first three kinds of knowledge are liable to error, while the last two cannot be wrong. The first two kinds of knowledge are indirect or paroksha, the rest are direct or pratyaksha. Chaitanya or consciousness is the essence of jiva and the two manifestations of chaitanya are perception (darsana) and intelligence (jnana). In darsana details are not perceived, while in jnana they are. In self-consciousness the subject and object of knowledge and knowledge itself are the different aspects of a single unity. In perfect condition the soul is pure jnana and darsana. He is free from doubt, perversity and indefiniteness. 45 The knowledge is of two forms-pramana (knowledge of a thing as it is in itself) and naya (knowledge of a thing in its relation). The doctrine of nayas or stand points is a peculiar feature of Jainism. According to one scheme there are seven nayas (sapta naya) and all these lead to fallacies (abhasas) when each of them is taken separately and is treated as absolute or entire. When we take a coordinated view of things, we are said to be resorting to naigamanaya. When we are inclined towards generalization and emphasise common features it is sangrahanaya, and when we are inclined towards particularization, it is vyavaharanaya. When a specific point or period of time is of thr essence it is rjusutranaya. It is, therefore, narrower tha) vyavaharanaya. Sabdanaya is based on the differentiation made according to the usage of language and grammar. When the derivative significance of words is overlooked and conventional meaning is accepted, it is samabhirudhanaya. And finally, when words are used exactly in their original derivative sense and significance, it is evambhutanaya. The first three of these (seven nayas (saptanaya) are grouped under dravyanaya and the last four under prayayanaya. The Saptanya theory is based on the fact that all philosophical disputes arise out of a confusion of standpoints. The Jainas illustrate it by the story of the six blind men who each laid hands on a different part of the body of elephant and tried to describe the whole animal on its basis. It was he who saw the whole that realized that each of them had only a portion of truth.

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194 Lord Mahavira The most important use of these standpoints is of course the Anekantavada or Syadvada, which comes to this that we cannot affirm or deny any thing absolutely about any object. Every preposition is true but only under certain conditions. We may make seven assertions, seemingly contradictory but perfectly true, about a thing: It is (syadasti). It is not (syad nasti)', it is and is not (syad asti-nasti), it is indescribable (syad avaktavya)', it is and indescribable (syad asti cha avaktavyam cha)', it is not and is indescribable (syad nasti cha avaktavyam cha); A man is the father, and is not the father, and is both-these are all perfectly intelligible statments, if one understands the point of view from which they are made. In relation to a particular boy he is the father; in relation to another boy he is not the father; in relation to both the boys taken together he is the father and is not the father. Since both the ideas can not be conveyed in words at the same time, he may be called indescribable; still he is the father and is indescribable; and so on. Thus, the philosophy of Anekanta is neither selfcontradictory nor vague or indefinite; on the contrary it represents a very sensible view of things in a systematized form.46 This is equivalent to saying that knowledge is only probable. It, however, does not mean that it only implied agnosticism or metaphysical nihilism. The negative result of such a theory of knowledge is apparently agnosticism, but even out of this the Jainas evolved a philosophy.47 Whether Syadvada and Saptanaya dialectics were already postulated in the age of Mahavira is a debatable question. Jacobi feels that the theory was formulated by Mahavira himself but according to G. C. Pande as the early texts are silent on the Sapiabhangi dialectics it will perhaps not be unreasonable to infer that this remarkably complex and subtle theory was a later development. It is true that the Bhagavatl and Pannavana refer to the seven fold Naya, but these texts contain a good deal of later materials.48 In fact, as Jacobi has elsewhere himself pointed out, the Jainas do not associate any doctrinal innovation with Mahavira.49 Jaina Ethics Path to Salvation The Moksha-marga (path to salvation) of Jainism consists of Samyag darsana (right faith), Samyak jnana (right knowledge),

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 195 and Samyagcharitra (right conduct), known as triratnas (the three jewels-cf. p. 177). These are basically different from the Bhaktimarga of the Bhagavatas, Jnana-marga of the Vedantins, and Karma-marga of the Mimamsakas. Unlike these religious schools, which lay all the emphasis either on bhakti, or jnana, or karman, asmea of salvation, the Jainas believe that all the three must co-exist in a person, if he is to attain salvation. Just as a medicine can cure a malady only when one has faith in its efficacy and knowledge of its use and actually does take it, the path of moksha must consist of all these three elements.50 The most important vows of a Jaina are five, namely, he shall not do violence to other living beings (ahimsa), he shall speak the truth (satya), he shall not commit theft (asteya), he shall not commit adultery (brahmacharya); and he shall set a limit to his greed for worldly possessions (aparigraha). Their observance presents many difficulties in the day-to-day life of householders. For example, as the critics of Jainism have argued, "there are living beings in water and on land and in the sky. When the whole world is teeming with life how will the medicant be free from violence"? (Jale jantuh sthale janturakase Jantureva chal Jantumalakule lake katham bhikshura himsakah).51 Hence, for the Jaina householders the uratas have been prescribed in a less rigorous form, and for this reason they are called anuvratas. In their more rigorous form prescribed for the ascetics they are called the mahauratas. The anuvratas are minor code of morals and are of limited application while mahavratas are the major code of morals and are applied ithout limitation. It is not that the partial observance of ahimsaby a householder will cause no karmaic bondage, but it will be of a minor type, its intensity being proportionate to the intensity of the passion of the man committing it and to the grade of life injured. Of the five principles ahimsa or non-violence is considered to be the most important. Actually the most important characteristic of Jainism is its insistence on the strict observance of the principle of non-violence. The term ahimsa is sometimes interpreted as strict non-killing and both the terms-non-violence and non-killingseem to connote a negative teaching without a positive content. But the Jainas look upon ahimsa as positive doctrine also. They emphasise that any action calculated to inflict injury on a living

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196 Lord Mahavira being is hirnsa. Piercing, binding, overloading, and starving the nimals are all forms of hinsa, and should be avoided. Even rinking ill of others or contemplation of injury is mental violence. For giving practical guidance in this matter, injury to others has been divider according to the mental attitude of the person into four kinds52-accidental (e.g. when injury is inflicted on living beings in cooking, walking, bathing, etc.) occupational (e.g. when a soldier strikes his enemy), protective (e.g. when one kills an attacking tiger or a dacoit) and intentional (when one kills simply for the sake of killing, as for meat-eating and rituals). The householder is required to abstain fully from the fourth kind and to the best of his ability from the other three, while an ascetic is expected to abstain from all the types of violence. The Jainas were extremely critical of the Buddhists who allowed their monks to eat meat if they themselves did not kill the animals but got the meat in alms. The Jainas argue that but for the meat eaters the butchers would not indulge in the act of killing the animals, and therefore meat-eaters are responsible (though indirectly) for killing. The Jainas were equally critical of the Vaidic practice of sacrificing animals in their rituals which they regarded as violence committed in the name of religion. The same kind of concession, as is allowed to a householder in the observance of ahinsa, is given to him in the observance of the other four vows. Satya or truth speaking is the second vow to be practised by all. It includes spreading false ideas, divulging secrets of others, back-biting, forging of documents, breach of trust, etc. In the case of the householder the strict observance of the principle is not insisted. Ahimsa being the most important vow to be observed all other vows are to be observed in such a way that the vow of non-violence is not broken. In a situation where truth-speaking may ensue violence or killing, as for example in revealing the place in which a man is hiding (to escape from the robbers who are intent on killing) deliberate uttering of falsehood is considered more ethical. The vow of asteya (non-stealing) signified strict adherence to one's own possessions, not even wanting to take hold of the possessions of others. According to the Jaina morality it would be theft if one takes away secretly or by force what does not belong to him, appropriates to himself what somebody else has forgotten

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 197 or has dropped, accepts what he knows to be stolen property and instructs another person in the methods of stealing.53 All the evil practices observed in trade and commerce such as adulterating the materials and not giving others their money's worth, not weighing and measuring properly and indulging in blackmarketing constitute stealing (steya). Therefore asteya vrata consists of avoiding such malpractices. In the case of the ascetic the vow of brahmachayra (celibacy) signifies complete abstention from sex. Even thoughts entertained about sex were considered to be as undersirable and unethical as the sexual act itself. The principle of co-ordination of thought (mana), word (yachana) and deed (karman) is applicable here as well. It is obvious however that in the case of the householder the vow cannot be interpreted in its literal and strict sense. Therefore observing the vow of brahmacarya in the case of the householder signifies only being completely faithul to one's wife (or husband). A householder should look upon all other women as his mothers, sisters, or daughters. He would be violating the vow of brahmacharya even if he talks obscenity. The meaning of the vow of aparigraha (non-possession) is obvious in the case of the ascetic since he has necessarily to renounce all his property and wealth before joining the sangha. But the mere physical renunciation is not of much value. Because of their constant association with him, it is very likely that thoughts about his former possessions may still linger on in his mind. The ascetic has to combat the tendency to retrospect about what he no longer 'possesses' by trying not to have even thoughts about the things he has renounced. But in the case of the householder aparigraha only signifies putting a stop to his desires for more than what he needs since a strict adherence to this vow by householders would be detrimental to society. On the other hand, by adopting the right or ethical methods in his profession he will help the society to derive the maximum benefit out of his skill in producing wealth. If a householder ever happens to earn more than that, he must spend it away in charities, the best and recognized forms of which are distribution of medicines and religious books, giving support to teachers, making provision for saving the lives of people in danger, and feeding the hungry and the poor.

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198 Lord Mahavira The five vows are thus the guide-posts for man who is in search off his own self. The integrated pattern observable in the ethical principles is evident from the fact that all the principles are ultimately to be referred to the vow of ahimsa. From the house holder's point of view, the anuvratas are meant to give him practice in self-control and renunciation. This purpose becomes more pronounced in the next three vows called gunavratas. They are digurata (not to travel in any direction beyond a certain distance in one's own life time), desavrata (prescribing further limits to movement for a specific period) and anartha dandavrata (setting limits on one's own belongings and occupations for a particular period). The next four vows54 called sikshavratas take him a step further. The first of these is Samayika (periodical contemplation and mental renunciation of worldly possessions). Physical discipline is then secured by the next two vows, poshadhopavasa (observing complete fast, reading scriptures and contemplating upon the self) and bhogopabhogaparimana (adhering to a programme of food and comforts in a restrictive manner, both as regards quantity and quality). The last of the sikshavratas is atithisamvibhaga (feeding out each day of what is cocked for himself, such righteous and holy persons as may turn up at his house at the proper time). These five anuuratas, three gunavratas, and four sikshavratas, in all twelve, constitute the chief vows of a householder, and a proper observance of them means right conduct (Samyagchariira).55 But right conduct has to be preceded by right faith (Samyagdar sana) and right knowledge (Samyak jnana). A deep devotion to those who have attained perfection or are on the way to it as well as to their teachings, constitutes right faith while right knowledge is the knowledge of the seven tattvas. The Jaina householder is expected to get rid of the three types of superstitious ignorance and the eight kinds of arrogance. The three types of superstitious ignorance are three mudhas-loka-mudha, deva-mudha, and pashandi-mudha.56 The loka-mudha refers to the general superstitions among people (e.g. the belief that by bathing in the so-called sacred rivers, or climbing up the hills, or walking through fire one acquires sanctity). The deva-mudha refers to the belief of the people in the powers of gods and goddesses

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 199 who are supposedly endowed with human qualities and human emotions, and to the propitiation of such gods and goddesses with the object of securing certain selfish ends. The third refers to devotion to certain false ascetics and acceptance of their teaching as gospel truth. Freedom from these three types of superstition is the primary condition of right faith. As it is mainly due to the passions that the soul becomes bound by the karmas, so anger, pride, deception, greed, etc. must be counteracted by the ten best virtues (dasa dharmas) forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, contentment, truthfulness, restraint, austerity, purity, chastity, and renunciation. To cultivate necessary religious attitude one should constantly reflect on twelve religious topics (anupreksa)--(i) everything is transitory; (ii) men are helpless against death; (iii) the cycle of existence is full of misery; (iv) the soul has to struggle all alone; (v) relatives and others are quite separate from oneself; (vi) the body is impure; (vii) karman is constantly inflowing; (viii) karman should be stopped by the cultivation of virtues; (ix) karman should be destroyed by penances; (x) the nature of universe; (xi) rarity of religious knowledge, and (xii) the true nature of religion. One who has right faith should also be free from the eight types of arrogance. These eight types are: arrogance of (1) the possession of intelligence; (2) the ability to conduct a grand type of temple worship; (3) having being born in a noble family; (4) belonging to a high caste; (5) possessing physical or mental strength; (6) having magical powers; (7) tapas or yoga, and (8) the beauty of one's person. 57 The Jaina Sangha All persons, irrespective of sex, caste or status, were allowed to enter the Jaina sangha if they were considered ethically fit. People renounced the world because of several reasons, specially when they became tired of the worldly life (samsara bhayodvigna). The Thana Sut. gives us examples of people becoming monk to avoid troubles, mentions a pair of friends renouncing the world by mutual agreement (sangarapavvajja) and describes those who were induced by instruction (akkhatapavajja). Some became monks to maintain themselves (ihaloga), or to get good food, or to get rid of debts (moya vaitta), etc.

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Lord Mahavira Recognition of the equality of all living beings is the chief feature of Jaina asceticism. The greatest temptation in this world are women; and so the monks are advised to avoid women and withdraw their mind from them. The true road to deliverance lies in right knowledge, right faith and right conduct (ratna traya) and austerities, He who sincerely performs all his duties by these methods, attains purity and gets rid of all miseries. The karmas must be annihilated by austerities, both external and internal. On the Jaina monks engaged in austerities were imposed severe restrictions of food, drink, clothes, sleep, etc. Mahavira himself renounced bathing, cleaning the teeth, etc. and took on special penances. 58 External austerity is of six kinds:59 (i) Anasana (fasting), (ii) Avamodarika (abstinence), (iii) Bhikshacharya (collecting alms), (iv) Rasatyaga (abstention from dainty food), (v) Kayaklesa (mortification) and (vi) Pratisam linata (restraint of passions). Internal austerity are also of six kinds: (1) Prayaschitta (explation of sins); (2) Vinaya (politeness); (3) Vaiyaurtya (serving the guru); (4) Svadhyaya (study); (5) Dhyana (meditation); and (6) Vyutsarga (abandoning of the body). The essential duties of a monk are sixfold. They are, as mentioned in the Uttara. Sut. thus: (1) Samyayika (moral and intellectual purity of the soul); (2) Chaturvimsatistava (adoration of 24 Jinas) (3) Vandana (paying reverence to the guru), (4) Pratikramana (expi- ation of sins); (5) Kayotsarga (a particular position of the body); and (6) Pratyakhyana (self-denial).60 The standard of moral discipline and self-control was set by Mahavira who preached five great vows (supra) to regulate the lives of monks and nuns. The first great vow of a monk is ahimsa. He must renounce all killing of living creatures, whether subtle or gross, whether movable or immovable. 200 The second great vow is that the monk must 'renounce all vices of lying speech' (Savvao mushavayao viramanam) and so he should speak after deliberation and should renounce anger, greed, fear and mirth. The third great vow is that the monk must 'renounce all taking of anything not given' (Savvao adinnadanao viramanam). He should beg after deliberation for a limited ground; consume his food and drink with the permission of his superior, take possession of a limited part of a ground for a fixed time, renew

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 201 the grant of a portion of some ground and beg for a limited ground for his coreligionists after deliberation.61 The fourth great vow is abstaining from sexual intercourse with gods or men or animals. (Savvao mehumao viramanam). The fifth great vow is the renunciation of 'all attachments, whether small or great' (Savvao pariggahao viramanam). Attachment means 'pleasure in external object', that is, pleasure of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and feeling. The Uttara. Sut. and Dasavai kalika mention a sixth vow also, that is absention from eating at night (Savvao raibhoyanao viramanam). The Jaina monks had to wander from place to place. However during their journey they could stay in lonely places fit for study. Later on to provide monks with houses some householders built special buildings. Rain-retreat (varshavasa) was regarded as compulsory for monks, for it helped them to abstain from injury to living beings. They, were, however; allowed to tour in the rainy season in special circumstances. The asceticism, practised by the Digambara school, is reflected mainly in its two texts, the Pravachanasara and the Mulachara, which are generally attributed to Kundakunda and Vattakera respectively. Kundakunda is looked upon as a prominent leader of the Mulasangha. According to A. N. Upadhye he flourished at the beginning of the Christian era. The Digambaras had denounced the Jaina canon of the Svetambaras, formed at Pataliputra after the famine, and so Kundakunda composed 84 small treatises in Prakrit based upon whatever traditional texts he had inherited from the early teachers. A comparative study of the monastic rules of both the schools shows that the points of similarity between them are far larger than those of differences. The life of Digambara monks was, however, severer for they practised nudity and the principle of non-possession rigorously. Their requisites were very insignificant. They slept on bare ground instead of on a plank. They were more careful to avoid injury to living beings, though both the schools based their moral discipline on ahimsa. According to the Digambaras it is the mental condition, rather than the visible act, that is of importance. Parigraha also does not so much consist in having physical contact with external objects as is being infatuated

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202 Lord Mahavira with them. Interestingly nudity was discouraged for nuns by both the schools. 62 According to the Svetambaras Sivabhuti founded a sect called Bodiya at Rathavirapura, about 699 years after the demise of Mahavira. We know how he started nudity among men but he did not allow his sister Uttara to observe it (infra). Kundakunda presents the Digambara view in this matter thus: "Women are for bidden from accepting severe type of asceticism, such as nakedness because they are constitutionally unfit: there is a growth of subtle living beings in their organ of generation, between their breasts, in their navel and armpits; their mind is fickle and devoid of purity; they have monthly courses and they cannot concentrate undisturbed." So he prescribes that nuns should take meals once and have a garment which they retain even when they take meals. Thus Kundakunda does not exclude women from entering the Order but he prescribes moderate and less rigorous rules for them than were prescribed for monks. The Svetambaras however were more liberal to women than the Digambaras because they thought that women could get liberation in this very birth while the Digambaras believed that women cannot get liberation without taking birth as men. But in spite of these differences the texts of both the schools present almost the same monastic atmosphere. Even nudity is prescribed not only in the Diagambara texts but also in those of the Svetambara, though their commentators declare that it was meant for the Jinakappi monks alone. Relation with Brahmanism and Buddhism It is the usual practice of Hindu philosophers to classify darsanas (philosophies) into two group:-Vaidic and non-Vaidic, otherwise known as astika darsanas and nastika darsanas. Under the former heading, usually Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Mimansa and Vedanta are included while under the latter come the Jaina, Buddhist and Charvaka. It is but a truism to say that the Jaina darsana is outside the Vaidic fold, though it is also held by some Jainas that the Vedas, at least the portions that are now lost, advocated ahimsa, and the differences between the two arose when there was difference of opinion in the interpretation of the Vedas, as illustrated in the story of King Vasu found in Jaina

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor literature as well as in the Mahabharata.63 Being the products of the same intellectual atmosphere the teachings of the Buddha and Mahavira naturally use similar expressions and display some common features.64 The belief in the past and future Enlightened ones, idea of the impermanence of the worldly pleasures, undesirability of samsara, rejection of the authority of the Vedas and of the efficacy of the Brahmanical rituals were common grounds between them. A pessimistic attitude towards life and world was shared alike by both. Both of them also subscribed to the doctrines of Samsaravada-and Kriyavada, Further, both. emphasized the superiority of the ascetic over the householder, but attached 'due importance to moral and disciplined lay life as a preparatory or initial stage for liberation'. Jainism is a frankly atheistic creed recognising no Supreme or Universal Soul over and above the individual jivas and an atheistic strain is implicit in the Buddhist practical morality also. At least both of them deny the existence of an intelligent first cause. According to G. C. Pande "disbelief in a creator and controller of the world-process may be called a characteristic trait of Sramana thought".65 Further, both adored defied saints, possessed a clergy practising celibacy and emphasized non-violence. 203 Because of these striking similarities it was argued by some earlier writers that the two religions were actually one and that Jainism was an off-shoot of Buddhism. According to Barth there is such a great similarity between the Buddha and Mahavira that we are instinctively led to conclude that 'one and the same person' is intended. Further, according to him the similarities in the doctrines and history of their religions prove that one of two religions is a sect of the other.66 But scholars like Colebrooke, Jacobi, Blihier, Guerinot, etc. have conclusively proved that the two religions were different from each other. It is true that for many years the Buddha and Mahavira were contemporaries but there is no doubt that they were different persons. Further, despite above similarities their religions show remarkable individualities, enjoyed patronage of separate kings and were never confused as one by the Brahmanical authors.67 Emerging as distinct creeds in the sixth century B.C. they drifted farther apart in the subsequent periods. In contrast with the Buddha's Middle Way which took asceticism in the sense of self discipline, the Jaina doctrine attaches

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204 greater importance to ascetic practices. The austere discipline of mortifying the flesh, decried by Buddhism, acquires great importance in Jainism. Monastic disciplines of the two religions also show some important differences.68 The divergence between the Jaina and Buddhist outlooks is reflected in many other aspects of these religions. Thus, while Buddhism advocates the anatta (no-soul), theory (at least according to the traditional schools), belief in the existence of innumerable souls is one of the basic doctrines of Jaina philosophy. It credits even inanimate objects like stones, trees, mountains, etc., with souls of varying degrees of consciousness. Again, with respect to the world (Loka), the Buddhists held that we could neither speak of its eternity, nor of its annihilation, while the Jainas subscribed to the realistic view of the material world. Secondly, the Buddhist Nirvana is defined as escape from existence while Jaina salvation assumes continued existence of disembodied soul in the state of perfection and bliss. The omniscience of the Kevalin has always been an important dogma with the Jainas. The Buddhists did not concede such aclaim. Thirdly, the Jaina theory of karman is matrialistic while the Buddhists regard kannan as an immaterial psychological principle. The Buddhists stress the active aspect of karman as doing; the Jainas-emphasize its mechanical aspect that comes forward in the karmaphala. The ideas about matter also differ considerably in the two religions and the emphasis on non-violence and non accumulation are not carried to the same extreme extent in Buddhism as in Jainism. The Buddhists regarded ahimsa as positive mental attitude of metta and karuna while the Jainas emphasized its negative aspect. Further, the Buddha denounced nudity, so strongly emphasized by Mahavira, and asked his followers to keep themselves 'properly clad'. These differences gave rise to a state of considerable rivalry and opposition between the adherents of the two religions. 1. Lord Mahavira 2. See Jacobi, Intro. to SBE, 45; Acharya Shri Tulsi, Pre-Vaidic Existence of Sramana Tradition, Calcutta, 1964; Jain, R. C., 'The Pre-Aryan Shramanic Spiritualism', Muni Hazarimal Smrti Grantha, 'Beawar, 1965, pp. 12-26; Mehta, M. L., 'Antiquity of Jaina Culture', Munishri Mishrimalji Maharaja Abhinandana Grantha, Jodhpur, 1968, pp. 1-9. See section on the Jaina divinities, p. 180.

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Jainism Upto the Last Victor 3. SBE. XXII. 4. cf. Goyal, S. R., 'Mahabharata aur Dasarajrna Yuddhon ki Tithiyan', Piirakalpa, Varanasi, 1974.1V, No. 1, pp. 5-18. 5. 6. 8. 9 10. 11. 7. According to Vyakhyaprajapti 9.32 Gangeya, a follower of Parsva, accepted the panchamahauratas of Mahavira. Such other followers of Parsva were Arya Kalasavesiyaputta, Pedthalaputta, etc. Cf. Ghatage, A.M., in AIU, p. 412. Ibid. According to Dharmananda Kosambi (Parsyanatful ka Chaiuryama Dharma, pp. 24-26) before becoming enlightened, the Buddha had entered the Parsva Order for some time. 12 13. 14. 15. 16. 17 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. It however does not mean that the details of his life as given in the Jaina texts are necessarily correct. 205 See, Muni. Devendra, Bhagavana Parsva: eka Samlkshatmaka Adhyayana, Poona, 1969; cf also Shastri, Premanand Jain Bhagavana Parsvanatha, Arekantra. XVIII No. 6, 1966, pp. 269-74. 'Ghatage, op. cit. Cf. Jacobi, SBE, 45. Intro., 'Mahavira and his Predecessors'. IA, IX; Jain, Bhagchandra, Antiquity of the Sramaaa Cult', World Buddhism. XV, No. 1, 1960, pp. 3-6; Phaltane, L. A., An Ancient Form of Jainism', Jain Antiquary, XXII No. 2 pp. 17-20. Williams, R. Before Mahavira', JRAS. 1966, Pt. 1-2, pp. 2-6. For an interpretation of the dream of Devananda see Gupta. S. K.. 'Devananda's Dream: An Interpretation of its Symbolism', Jiynasa, Jaipur, I, No. 3-4, pp. 128 47. Jacobi, Jaina Sutras, I, p. 225. According to the Svetambaras the birth-place of Mahavira is Lachhuar or Lachbwad in the southern part of Monghyr Distt. The Digambaras, however, give this honour to Kuppalapura near Nalanda. AIU, p. 414. SBE, XLV. p. xxxii. Chakraborty, H.. Asceticism in Ancient India, p. 344. Ibid, p. 345. Ibid. Ghatage, AIV, P. 415. Cf. Muni Shri Nagrajji. The Contemporaneity and the Chronology of Mahavira and Buddha, Calcutta, 1964. 'Cf. our Chapter on the chronology of the early Magadhan empire and the dates of the Buddha and Mahavira in the Magadha Samrajyaka Udaya, ed. by Cf. Jain, J. L. Outlines of Jainism, 1916. 24. 25. Jain, H.L., in CHI, I, p.4.3. 26. Ibid. 27. Cf. Pande, op. cif., p. 356.

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206 Lord Mahavira 28. 29. That in its pure state soul possesses infinite knowledge formed one of the leading dogmas. The pure' knowledge (Kevalanam) of the soul, it was supposed, mirrored the entire universe within itself. . . . In it all knowable forms belonging to all time become, as it were, revealed in a single flash, which is, however, not to say that it was a mere momentary knowledge." (Pande, op. cit., p. 356 f.). 'Jain, K. C., 'Soul in Jainism', Munishn Mishrimalji Maharaja Abhinandana Grantha, pp. 71-75. Pande, op. cit., p. 357 f. Jain, J. L., ibid. CHI, 1, p. 405. Ibid., 30. 31. 32. 33. Ibid., 36. 37. 38. 'Ibid., p. 407; for a detailed study of the Jaina theory of Karman Cf. Mittal, K. K.., 'The Jaina View of Karma', Bulletin of the institute of Post-Graduate (Evening) Studies, Delhi, 1965, pp. 102-6; Jain, Bhagchandra, The Jaina Theory of Kama as Reflected in Pali Literature', Nagpur University Journal, XVI, No. 2, 1966, pp. 168-76. In certain conditions Jainism permits "voluntary religious suicide". " According to Jainism, dying is as much an art as living. A layman is expected not only to live a disciplined life but also to die bravely a detached death. There are elaborate rules about voluntary death (sallekhana), which has been practised not only by the Jaina monks but also by pious laymen; and we have innumerable inscriptions commemorating the detached deaths of pious Jainas. This voluntary death is to be distinguished from suicide, which Jainism looks upon as a cowardly sin. When faced by calamity, famine, old age, and disease, against which there is no remedy, a pious Jama peacefully relinquishes his body, being inspired by a higher religious ideal." (A. N. Upadhye). ERE, II, p.63. See Venkatarama lyer, M. K. 'Jivanamukti--The case for and against if, Vedantakesart, LI, No. 1, pp. 153-58. 'Cf. Upadhye, A. N., op. cit. Cl. Sogani, Kamal Chand, 'The Concept of Devotion in Jainism'. Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, III, 1965, pp. 80-92. 'Sogani, K. C., 'The Concept of Arhanta (Arhat) in Jainism', Mumshn Mishrimalji Maharaja Abhinandana Grantha, pp. 10-14. CHI, I, pp. 416-17. One of the earliest stone images in round found in India, from Lohanipur in Patna belonging to the Maurya-Sunga period is regarded as the image of a Tirthankara. As given in the AIU, p. 427. For details see Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, I, p. 294 ff. CHI, I, p. 406; cf. Amar Chand, Jaina Darsana men Saptabhangivada', Aneksnta, XVII, No. 6, 1965, pp. 152-58. Ghatage, AIV, P. 424. 39. 41. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

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49 Thid Jainism Upto the Last Victor 207 48. Pande, Origins, p. 353. Ibid., p. 354. 50. CHI, I. p. 430. 'Pande, C C. Sramana Tradition, p. 43: Cf. Vyas, Nitin J., The Concept of Ahimsa i ainism', in Aruna Bharati, Prof. A. N. Jam Felicitation Volume, ed. B. Datta jaroda, 1983, pp. 107-114. Aman. G. L., The Jain Conception of Ahimsa'. Munishri Mishrimalji Maharaia Abhinandana Grantha, pp. 24-32, Jindal, K.B., Jaina Ethics: Its Ideal and Viewpoint', ibid., p. 65ff., Boolchand, "Ahimsa: The Basic Social Ethics'. Munishri Hazarimal Smrti Grantha, p. 27ff.; Bhattacharya H., 'The Vratas Other than Ahimsa', ibid., p. 88-93: Jindal, K. B., The Doctrines of Jainism,' ibid., pp. 30-45; Sogani, Kamal Chand. The Concepts of Parisaha and Tapa in Jainism', ibid., pp. 45-62. 52. Cm. I, p. 408 f. 53. CHI, I, p. 409. 54. For details, vide CHI, 1, p. 410. 55. CHI, I, p. 409 f. 56. Ibid, p. 431 57. Ibid, p. 431 58. Pande, op. cit, P. 366. 59. For details see H. Chakraborty, Asceticism in Ancient India, p. 367 ff. Ibid., p. 372. 61. Ibid., p. 375. 62. Cf. Chakraborty, op. cit., p. 440. 63. Chakravarti, A., in CHI, I, p. 414. 64. Pande, G.C., Origins, p. 542. 65. Ibid., p. 543. 66. Berth. The Religions of India, pp. 148-50. 67. See Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, I. p. 291. 68. Cf. Mishra, G.S.P., 'Some Reflection on Early Jain and Buddhist Monachism'. Jijnasa, Jaipur, I, Nos. 3-4, p. 4-15.

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15 PARENTS OF THE TIRTHANKARAS* -Umakant P. Shah The parents of the Tirthankaras have been paid due respect by followers of both the main Jaina sects, who have taken special care to record their names in the accounts of the lives of Tirthankaras of this Avasarpini age. The table appended at the end of this paper, gives their names according to both the traditions. Worship of the parents of the Tirthankaras appears to be of ancient origin. They are invoked in various rites, especially in the Pratishthavidhi,1" and it is interesting to note that even here the mothers are more frequently invoked than the fathers. In painting as well as sculpture, the mother is oftener represented. Aryavati in the Amohini Votive Tablet from Mathura, dated in the 42nd year of Sodasa, is one of the earliest such specimen. It belongs to the early Kushana period, and depicts a standing lady (Aryavati) adored and worshipped by attendant figures one of whom holds a parasol over her. The lady is probably the mother of a Tirthamkara, probably Mahavira. Several stone patas or plaques representing in relief all the twenty-four mothers-each in a separate compartment and carrying their sons on the lap-are known to have been installed in Jaina temples during the medieval period. The earliest of these known hitherto is preserved in a Svetambara Jaina temple at Osia in the former Jodhpur state, Rajasthan, and is dated V.S. 1075/A.D. 1018. I know of similar patas from Patan, Abu and Mt. Girnar, and many more exist in different Jaina temples. The mothers of the Jaina saviours were widely worshipped * Pramod Chandra (id.) Prince of Wales Museum Bulletin.

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Parents of the Tirthankaras 209 both in groups of twenty-four and singly. When single, the mother is shown reclining on a cot with the child lying beside her, both attended by maids and/or the dik-kumaris of Jaina mythology. Such representations form part of the numerous scenes depicting the entire life of a Jina, but are generally without the dik-kumaris as in the miniature illustrations of Kalpasutra Mss. Of these numerous examples the commonest type can be seen, depicting the mother lying on a cot with a child at her side and attended by maid-servants.? Another type represents the mother lying on a cot in the lower part of the miniature, while the upper panels show the various dreams (fourteen according to the Svetambaras) seen by the mother during the holy conception.3 In the case of the mother of Mahavira, however, some more types of miniatures are available. One of these shows the Brahman lady Devananda seeing the fourteen dreams when Mahavira first entered her womb, a second shows Devananda sleeping on a cot while Harinegameshin is depicted carrying away the foetus of Mahavira, while a third type shows Trisala lying on a cot with Harinegameshin, who is standing beside her, carrying the foetus of Mahavira. On a pillar in the famous Dharana-vihara shrine at Ranakpur, in former Jodhpur state, Rajasthan, is found the figure of a mother lying on a cot representing the nativity of a Jina. An older and larger sculpture of the same subject is preserved in Temple No. 4 at Deogarh fort, Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh. The sculpture (dated V.S. 1077/A.D. 1020) shows the mother resting on a cot and shampooed by a maid; and includes representations of the twentyfour Jinas on all the three sides of the mother leaving us in no doubt about the identification of the figure. Nativity images were equally popular with other sects of ancient India. The nativity of the Buddha, at the site of his birth, near the Lumbini grove, is well known 5 The nativity of Krishna is represented on the outer wall of the first Panchayatana temple at Osia, and is assignable to the early medieval period. Similar representations are known from Eastern India, and include images depicting the birth of Sadasiva.? The famous sculpture from Pathari in former Gwalior State, of a mother lying on a cot with a child beside her, and attended

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210 Lord Mahavira by four maidens holding the fan, chauri, a money-bag (?) etc., in their hands is especially noteworthy. Since Jaina traditions speak of dik-kumaris nursing and attending upon the mother at the time of the birth of a Jina, this sculpture probably represents the mother of Jina. This identification is the more likely because an old Jaina temple still exists at Pathari. It may be remembered that in Buddhist mythology, the Buddha is attended, not by females, but by Brahma and four other male deities while a similar group of female attendants is not known to Hindu iconography in representations of the nativity of Krishna. A ceiling slab in the Neminatha shrine at Kumbharia (north Gujarat), which relates to the life of Parsvanatha, (Pl. 11a) shows King Asvasena and Queen Vama (the parents of Parsva), seated side by side in the first row, while the second and the third rows contain in separate compartments, parents of all the twenty-four Tirthankaras. They are seated on a cushion, close to each other, the mother carrying the future Jina on her lap. With this type may be considered a group of miniature paintings of the Kalpasutra. King Siddhartha and Queen Trisala (parents of Mahavira) are shown, for example, seated beside each other in a miniature, 10 the seat of the former being larger and each with a chhatra above. Here Trisala narrates her dreams to Siddhartha who interprets them as auspicious omens. Of a similar type are other miniatures representing the parents of Rishabha, the patriarch Nabhi and Marudevi We also see Siddhartha and Trisala, listening to the interpretors of dreams (svapnapathaka) who are shown in a lower panel.11 A curious sculpture, representing a Tirthankara seated on a simhasana, and showing a lady reclining on a cot below the simha sana, is preserved on the Vaibhara hill, Rajgir (Pl. 11b) and dates from c. 9th-10th century A.D. The lady must be the mother of the Jina on the throne. A similar sculpture was seen in the compound of temple No. 12 at Deogarh, while there is another of this type in the collection of Sri P. C. Nahar, Calcutta. This type of representation of the parents of a Jina (seated side by side) at Kumbharia on stone, or in the miniatures noted above, leads us to the examination of yet another group of

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Parents of the Tirthankaras 211 sculptures as yet unidentified. Here we generally see a male and a female dressed in princely attire and sitting under a tree with a child on the woman's lap. In all such cases, there is invariably a Jina figure seated on the top of the tree (PL 11c).12 Sometimes both the male and the female hold a child each. 13 In some cases the male holds a lotus or a citron in one of his hands (Pl. 12a). Below the princely pair, in a lower panel, are found several seated or standing figures (Pls. 11e, 12a), and in some cases figures riding on horses are also seen (Pl. 12b). 14 Again, in some sculptures (Pl. 13a), a group of children are shown near the feet of the male and the female. Sometimes, a small dwarfish figure is seen climbing the stem of a tree just above and in a sculpture in the Deogarh fort, a similar figure is represented on the branch of a tree. In this connection, two sculptures from Khajuraho deserve special mention. In one (Pl. 12a) a small figure of a bull is placed between the pair, near their legs. In another (Pl. 13b), at the two ends on the base are representations of a yaksha and yakshi. Again, the chouri-bearers to the right and the left of the male and the female in the same sculpture may be noted. Such representations are known to occur in old Digambara shrines and other Jaina sites in former Gwalior State, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A few are also known from Bengal. They seem to have gradually become less popular in the later Medieval and Muslim periods while older sites like Khajuraho, Deogarh and Budhi Chanderi abound in such representation. Now the presence of a yaksha and a yakshi, as subordinate figures (Pl. 13b), as also of fly-whisk bearers and the bull cognizance demonstrates that these sculptures cannot represent the yaksha and yakshi of a Tirthankara. Besides there are different kinds of trees in different sculptures which suggests that the pairs are probably associated with different Tirthankaras. The presence of a child on the lap of the mother is of the utmost importance, for it finally establishes the identification of the pair as representing the mother and the father of the Tirthankaras. 15 Moreover, both the male and the female are dressed in regal attire in all sculptures, and the definite evidence of a similar tradition amongst the Svetambaras (in c. 11th-12th century) as demonstrated by the

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212 Lord Mahavira ceiling slab from Kumbharia, when the parents are actually seated side by side with the son on the mother's lap indicate the possibility that these pairs are representations of the parents of the Jinas. Another alternative would be to take the pair as representing the Kulakara and his queen, or the happy twins (Yugalika) who lived in those mythical days, 16 but this creates more problems than are solved. For if this were so, it would be difficult to explain the presence of the bull-cognizance in the sculpture from Khajuraho discussed above (Pl. 12a), the most probable explanation for its presence being that it indicates the couple to be parents of Rishabhanatha whose cognizance is that animal. The presence of the yaksha and the yakshi at the two ends of the base in Pl. 13b, and the other five figures in the centre, who seem to be worshippers would also seem to be unnecessary. Besides, the almost invariable figure on the top of the tree in such sculptures would not be required if the representation of different Kulakaras was intended. The sculptures can also be regarded as representing a yaksha. and a yakshi, probably being a Jaina version of the Buddhist Jam- bhala and Hariti. Here again it would be difficult to explain the presence of another yaksha and yakshi at the two ends of the pedestal of Pl. 13b. Additional difficulties remain, for example, the presence of horsemen in sculptures like Pl. 12b is not explicable whether we regard these sculptures as representations of the Kulakaras, as yaksha-yakshi, or as parents of a Jina.17 The Mathura Museum sculpture No. 278, illustrated here in Pl. 12b, shows a male and a female seated side by side in lalitasana under a tree, on the trunk of which is an ascending lizard. On the pedestal is carved another figure seated with the left leg drawn up and flanked by two butting rams and a group of frolicsome children. Frolicsome children can also be seen in a sculpture at Temple No. 12 at Deogarh (Pl. 13a) where three standing infants are shown, not on the pedestal, but between the legs of the male and female who are sitting in lalitasana under a tree. The principal figure sometimes also hold a brimming cup, a citron or a lotus which are usually carried by yakshas and the presence of frolicking

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Parents of the Tirthankaras children is but natural in sculptures based on the Buddhist Jambhala and Hariti group. The temptation to identify these figures with yakshi and yakshi pairs, thus, is very strong, but again not without difficulties. For example, it would then become difficult to account for a symbol like the bull-cognizance which we see in a sculpture like Pl. 12a. 213 Under all these circumstances, it is difficult to find out a final satisfactory solution of this group of sculptures. Almost all belong to the medieval age, a few are assignable to the early medieval period, but none are earlier than c. 7th century A.D. All the sculptures of this group post-date the introduction of a yaksha pair as attendants in Tirthankara images, and it is, therefore, quite likely that this group of Jaina sculptures was modelled after the Buddhist Jambhala and Hariti.18 These may have been worshipped, however, as parents of the Jinas in order to suit the exigencies of the Jaina religion. The variance in the representation of the minor figures and other peculiarities may be explained by the fact that canonical formulation of iconographic rules had not yet taken place allowing the artist liberties in the representations of at least the minor figures. It may well be that a few figures were intended to represent a yaksha pair, especially in cases where the pair carries the brimming cup or the citron, but even here there are difficulties. In the case of the sculpture representing yaksha Gomedha and yakshi. Ambika of Neminatha discussed by Brindabanchandra Bhattacharyya,19 the lion-vehicle of Ambika is absent (the partly mutilated figure to the left of Ambika representing some worshipper and not an animal) and the five figures on the pedestal seem to be five planets or some minor deities. The sculpture was carved in an age (c. 13th century A.D.) when the iconography of Ambika was so well known that she would have certainly carried a mangobunch, rather than a citron, and would have been shown as standing under a mango tree. Matters are made more difficult in as much as is if she is not Ambika, she cannot be any other yakshi, for, it is only she according to the canons of Jaina iconography, who carries a child in her lap. Again all the sculptures of this type cannot be identified as Gomedha and Ambika, for the tree above

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214 Lord Mahavira is not constant, being different with the different Jinas who are shown associated with them. Unfortunately, most sculptures of this type bear no inscriptions and the few short labels found on pedestals (as in a bronze in the Nagpur Museum or in No. A(c) 2329 in the Rajashah Museum, from Deopara, district Rajashahi) do not really help us in identifying this pair. In this connection, the inscription on No 278 in the Mathura Museum (Pl. 12b) is read as Pravati Siddhah. and if this has any connection with Priyakarini and Siddhartha, the mother and father of Mahavira according to Digambara traditions, an identification with the parents may be possible. In the absence of more definite evidence, however the proposition advanced in this paper, though highly probable, is to be regarded as tentative. The evidence that supports our suggestion strongly is the panel at Kumbharia, and Pls. 136 and 12a from Khajuraho, but it is not conclusive. The figures of a male and female seated in lalitasana on a common seat, with haloes behind, obviously indicating that they are objects of worship (gods or Siddhas) in a sort of heavenly vimana, or in a shrine having a sikhara, in which is a Jina seated within a niche, but without the tree (met with in all the other sculptures discussed above), is preserved in the British Museum, London.20 Again, neither the male nor the female carries a child and the pair possibly hold lotuses, in their right hands, while the female carries the citron in her left hand. The pedestal shows three dwarfs lifting the vimana, and four standing males who seem to be musicians. On the pedestal is incised a label reading Anantaviryyo in early Nagari characters of c. 10th or 11th century A.D. No yaksha is known as Anantavirya in Jaina literature. But Anantavirya is the name of the twenty-fourth future Jina according to the Digambaras21 and of the twenty-third according to the Svetambaras.22 The pair may thus represent parents of the future Jina Anantavirya though it is just possible that Anantaviryyo merely signifies the name of the donor. On the opposite page is appended a table giving the names of the Parents of the Tirthankaras of this Avasarpini (in Bharatakshetra), according to the Svetambara and Digambara traditions. It will be seen that the two traditions are almost similar.

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Parents of the Tirthankaras No. Tirthankara Rishabhanatha 1. 2. Ajitanatha Sambhavanatha 3. 4. Abhinandana 5. Sumatinatha 6. Padmaprabha Suparsvanatha 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Vasupujya 14. 13. Vimalanatha 15. 16. Anantanatha Dharmanatha Santinatha Supratishtha (Digambara) Chandraprabha Mahasena 17. Kunthunatha TABLE 1 Parents of Jinas Pushpadanta Sugriva Sitalanatha Sreyamsanatha 18. Aranatha Father 19. Mallinatha Nabhi Jitasatru Jitari Samvara Megha (Svetambara) Meghaprabha (Digambara) Dhara or Dharana (Digambara) Pratishtha or Dridharatha Vishnu Vasupujya Kritavarma Simhasena Bhanu Visvasena Sura or Suryasena (Digambara) Sudarsana Kumbha Mother Marudevi Vijaya Sena (Svetambara) Sushena (Digambara) Siddhartha Mangala Susima Prithvi Lakshmana or Lakshmidevi (Digambara) 215 Rama Nanda Vishnu or Venudevi (Digambara) Jaya or Vijaya (Digambara) Syama or Jayasyama (Digambara) Suyasa or Sarvayasa (Digambara) Suvrata Achira or Aira (Digambara) Sri Devi or Mitra (Digambara) Prabhavati

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216 20. Naminatha Vijaya 21. Neminatha 22. Parsvanatha 23. Mahavira Samudravijaya Asvasena Siddhartha Lord Mahavira Vapra or Viprita (Digambara) Sivadevi Vama or Varmila Trisala or Priyakarini (Digambara) In order to identify the different pairs as parents of the different Tirthankaras, a table of chaitya trees of these Jinas is appended below. it will be seen that the tree under which the pair sits is different in different sculptures, and sometimes there is a tree with the Jina figure on top. TABLE 2 Chaitya-trees of tirthankaras No. Tirthankara Svetambara Digambara 1. Risabhanatha Nyagrodha Nyagrodha 2. Ajitanatha Saptaparna Nyagrodha 3. Sambhavanatha Sala (Shorea Nyagrodha Robusta) Abhinandana Piyaka or Priyaka Sarala 5. Sumatinatha Priyangu (Panicum Sarala italicum) 6. Padmaprabha Chaturabha (Ane- Priyangu thum Sava) 7. Suparsvanatha Sirisa (Acacia Priyangu Sirisha) 8. Chandraprabha Naga Priyangu 9. Pushpadanta Mali Aksa (Suvidhinatha) 10. Sitalanatha Pilankhu (Plaksha) Dhuli 11. Sreyamsanatha Tinduga Palasa 12. Vasupujya Patala (Bignonia Tenduva Suaveolens) 13. Vimalanatha Jambu (Eugenia Patala-Jambu Jambulana) 14. Anantanatha Asvattha Patala-Jambu 15. Dharmanatha Dadhiparna Patala-Jambu 16. Santinatha Nandi (Cedrela- Patala-Jambu Toona)

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Parents of the Tirthankaras 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 24. 22. Neminatha 23. Parsvanatha 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 8. 9. Kunthunatha Aranatha Mallinatha Munisuvrata 14. Naminatha 15. Mahavira Tilaka Patala-Jambu Patala-Jambu Amra Asoka Patala-Jambu Champaka (Mich- Patala-Jambu elia Champaka) Bakula (Mimusops Patala-Jambu Elengi) Vetasa Dhataki (Grislea Dhava Tomentosa) Sala Mesasringa Dhava 217 Achara-Dinakara, pp. 154 ff., 16 ff.; Pratishthasaroddhara, pp. 87; Pratisthatilaka, pp. 420 ff. Pavitra-kalpa-sutra, ed. by Muni Punyavijaya. Fig. 23 represents Trisala and Mahavira on a cot. Fig. 30 is a palm-leaf miniature showing Trisala with an attendant and two dik-kumaris in an upper corner; also cf. Fig. 85 where dik-kumaris are in a lower register. Fig. 100 depicts the birth of Rishabha, and only a maid servant or probably a dik-kumari is shown. Also see, Brown, Miniature Paintings of the Jaina Kalpasutra, figs. 58, 59, 90, 91. Cf. ibid., fig. 98 representing Devananda seeing the fourteen dreams. Ibid., figs. 6, 14, 16; Pavitra-kalpa-sutra, figs. 77 and 82 representing garbha pahara.. and garbha-samkramana. Stella Kramrisch, Indian Sculpture, fig. 98, also figs. 21-23, for the dream of Mayadevi. Annual Report, Archeological Survey of India, 1908-09, pp. 100 ff. where D. R. Bhandarkar describes the temples at Osia. The present writer has seen the sculpture on the temple which is as yet unpublished. History of Bengal, Vol. I for a reproduction of the figure of Sadasiva. N. K. Bhattasali, Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical 'Sculptures of the Dacca Museum, pls. LIII. LIV, pp. 134 ff. 10. See Brown, Miniature Painting of the Jaina Kalpasutra, fig. 32. 11. Ibid., figs. 48, 49, 50 and 117. 12. From State Museum, Lucknow. 13. We have one such figure in Deogarh. Also cf. fig. A(e)2, 329 from Deopara, in the Museum of the Varendra Research Society formerly situated in Rajashahi, East Bengal. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, fig. 178. The four male deities are the four Maharajas, the quarter-guardians Dhritarashtra, Vidudhaka and others. The Pathari sculpture, because of attendant females (not known to Buddhist or Hindu mythology) must be identified as representing the birth of a Jina (probably the nativity of Mahavira). See, Gomedha and Ambika from Deogarh, illustrated by B. C. Bhattacharya, Jaina Iconography. The Pratisthatilaka ot Nernichandra, p. 422. admits as valid representations

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218 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Lord Mahavira of the mother and father seated side by side in the following verses: bhrtr| uhaivAsanasanniviSTAM saMsnApya yAM tIrthajalaiH surendrAH / divyairvibhUSAmbaramAlyamukhyairAnarcurenAM vayamarthayAmaH / / For Kulakaras, see, Trishashtisalakapurushacharita (G.O. series). Vol. I, pp. 93 ff. Also see Tiloyapanatti, 4, 326 ff., Vol. I, pp. 185 ff. for Yugalikas. The text especially says: te jugaladhagmajutA parivArA natthi takkAle / / 340 / / which would seem to exclude the possibility of this group being identified as Yugalika images. For Kulakaras, see again Tiloyapanatti, 4.423-510, pp. 195-206. A sculpture from Chanderi also shows horsemen at the bottom of the sculpture. See, AR., A.S.I., 1924-25, pl. 42, fig. 2. Cf. Kubera and Hariti from Sahri-Bahlol, in Smith and Codrington, A History of Fine Arts in India and Ceylon. pl. 31 fig. B. For Hariti also see, Bhattasali. Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures, PP. 63 ff. Jaina Iconography Pl. XVI, p. 183. Ramaprasad Chanda, Medieval Indian Sculpture in the British Museum, London, pl. ix, p. 41-42. T. N. Ramchandran, Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples, p. 213. Abhidhanachintamani, 1, 53-56, pp. 18-19.

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16 VARDHAMANA AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF JAINISM* - Padmanabh S. Jaini It is August, 1955. On the holy mount of Kunthalagiri, in the state of Maharashtra in India, an old man called Santisagara (Ocean of peace) is ritually fasting to death. He is the acarya (spiritual leader) of the Digambara Jaina community; now, after thirty-five years as a mendicant, he is attaining his mortal end in the holy manner prescribed by the great saint Mahavira almost 2,500 years earlier. Santisagara has owned nothing, not even a loincloth, since 1920. He has wandered on foot over the length and breadth of India, receiving food offerings but once a day, and then with only his bare hands for a bowl; he has spoken little during daylight hours and not at all after sunset. From August 14 until September 7 he takes only water; then, unable to drink without help, he ceases even that. At last, fully conscious and chanting the Jaina litany, he dies in the early morning of September 18. The holiness and propriety of his life and of the manner of his death are widely known and admired by Jainas throughout India. Who Are the Jainas? The designation Jaina, applied to the approximately four million members of one of India's most ancient sramana or nonVaidic religious traditions,2 literally means "follower of a Jina." The Jinas are "spiritual victors," human teachers said to have attained kevalajnana (infinite knowledge) and to have preached the doctrine of moksa (salvation). Such figures are also called Tirthankaras (Builders of the ford (which leads across the ocean of suffering]). It is believed that twenty-four of them appear in * The Jaina Path of Purification, Motilal Banarsidas, Publishers, Delhi-1990.

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220 Lord Mahavira each half of a time cycle,5 have done so from beginningless time, and will continue to do so forever. Hence a Jina or Tirthankara is not the founder of a religion; he is rather the propagator of a truth and a path which have been taught in the same manner by all teachers of his everpresent, imperishable tradition. Each Jina reanimates this tradition for the benefit of succeeding generations. The teachings are neither received through divine revelation nor manifested through some inherent magical power (as, for instance, the Vedas are alleged to be). It is the individual human soul itself which, aided by the earlier teachings, comes to know the truth. Strictly speaking, then, worshipping or following the teachings of a particular Jina has no special significance; nothing new is taught, and the path remains always the same. Even so, it is natural that those teachers who most immediately precede the present age would be remembered more readily. Thus we find that the last few Jinas-Nemi, Parsva, and especially Mahavira, final teacher of the current time cycleare often regarded as the teachers and taken as the objects of a certain veneration. Recent activities in the Jaina community celebrating the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira's nirvana (final death) attest to this phenomenon. Although the scriptures assert time and again that the Jina is a human being, born of human parents in the usual way, the Jaina laity is usually raised to regard him more as a superhuman personage. Certain fantastic attributes are popularly held to characterize the Jina-to-be. He is born with a special body, its frame having an adamantine (vajra) quality; such a body is considered necessary if he is to withstand the terrible rigors of meditation intense enough to bring salvation in the present life. As a psychic corollary to this physical aspect, he possesses supermundane cognition-avadhijnana-- by means of which he may perceive objects and events at enormous distances. Similarly, a fixed and rather stylized set of supernatural occurrences is said to mark his career. Although he has practiced the virtues requisite to Jinahood during several previous lives, he is not spontaneously aware of his impending attainment in the present one. Hence the gods, appearing miraculously at the appropriate moment, urge him to a waken to his real vocation and thus to renounce the household life. And whereas ordinary men require a guru for A

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 221 initiation into the spiritual life of a mendicant (muni), the Jina-tobe needs no teacher or preceptor. He renounces the world on his own, becoming the first monk of a new order. Upon attainment of Jinahood, he enters the state of kevalajnana, from which there can be no fail ng away. At this point all normal bodily activitieseating, sleeping, talking, and so on-come to an end; the Jina sits, absolutely unmoving, in his omniscient state. And yet, as he sits there, a miraculous sound (divyadhvani) will be heard emanating from his body. Several ganadharas (supporters of the order) will then appear. Each will possess the ability to interpret the divyadhvani and thus to convey the Jina's teachings to others, answering accurately all questions pertaining to his path and doctrine. Finally, at the end of his life, the Jina sheds his mortal body and ascends to his permanent resting place at the very apex of the universe. This, then, is the Jina ordinarily envisioned by the Jaina layperson. But in the sacred literature of the tradition we find a picture that conforms much more closely to the usual image of a saintly human teacher. With reference usual image or a saintly human teacher. With reference to the career of Mahavira, for example, there are numerous details of his daily life prior to the enlightenment: his family, his personality, the travails of the quest. Rainy seasons spent in different cities, encounters with heretical contemporaries, and various discourses to disciples, all following his attainment of omniscience, are likewise described. On the basis of such descriptions it is possible, to construct a brief biography of Mahavira, most recent of the historical Jinas and of greatest importance to the shape of the present order. This account of the Jaina religion most appropriately begins with the great saint's life; for in considering what may at first glance seem the bare facts of an individual existence, the reader will discover ties with the prehistoric past, a fantastically complex cosmological system, and the seeds of controversies that have split the Jaina community for 2,000 years. The Digambara and Svetambara Schism In recounting the story of Mahavira we are actually dealing with two stories, or rather with divergent narratives each purporting to accurately describe a single set of events. These conflicting

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222 Lord Mahavira versions reflect the positions of two distinct and virtually irreconcilable traditions within Jainism: that of the Digambaras (Sky-clad) and that of the Svetambaras (White (cotton]clad). This split among the followers of the Jina may have originated with the southward flight of one portion of the previously unified Jaina community in the face of a disastrous famine, circa 300 B.C. Some sources suggest that a large group of migrants was led by the famous acarya Bhadrabahu into what is now Karnataka State (Mysore), where they resided for some twelve years. It is further held that Bhadrabahu himself passed away before any return was possible, but that his followers did make their way back to Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar State), only to discover that an "official" recension of the sacred texts had been prepared in their absence. Many points of this recension, codified under the leadership of Sthulabhadra, were unacceptable to the recently returned monks; even more significantly, the "northerners" had taken up certain habits, especially the use of clothing, which the southern group found intolerable. Unable to effect any alterations either with regard to the contested doctrinal issues or to the "lax" conduct of Sthulabhadra's followers, this group (later called Digambaras) not only declared the entire canon heretical and invalid, but proclaimed themselves the only "true" Jainas. Eventually they wrote their own puranas (legends), giving a history of Mahavira which often contradicted that found in the texts possessed by the other faction, the Svetambaras. Our story will attempt to reflect both versions, and to bring into focus the points of contention from which such important religious and social ramifications have developed. Vardhamana Mahavira Legends Connected with His Birth The word Mahavira, great hero, is an epithet, not the given name of the man to whom it is applied; but the universality of its application has rendered it functionally equivalent to a personal name. Tradition has it that this Jina-to-be was born in 599 B.C. at Kundagrama, a large city in the kingdom of Vaisali (near modern Patna).? His father was one Siddhartha, a warrior (ksatriya) chieftain of the Jnatr clan; his mother, Trisala, was the sister of the Vaisali ruler Cetaka.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism Before a description of the birth itself, several important events said to have preceded it must be considered. According to Svetambara sources, conception of the child was accompanied by Trisala's witnessing of fourteen dreams (see pl. 4): (1) A white elephant; (2) a white bull; (3) a lion; (4) Sri, the goddess of beauty; (5) garlands of mandara flowers; (6) the full moon; (7) the rising sun; (8) a large and beautiful flag; (9) a vase of costly metal, filled with water; (10) a lake adorned with lotuses; (11) an ocean of milk; (12) a celestial abode (a glorious house in the sky); (13) an enormous heap of jewels; (14) a blazing fire. To this list the Digambaras add: (15) a lofty throne; and (16) a pair of fish playing in a lake. 223 Jainas recall and re-enact these dreams even today when they celebrate the five auspicious moments (Kalyanakas) of Mahavira's life: conception (garbha), birth (janma), renunciation (vairagya), enlightenment (kevalajnana) and final death (nirvana). The dreams are also depicted in the sculptures and paintings which adorn the interiors of Jaina temples. They seem to allegorically portray the descent of Mahavira's soul into the womb from an exalted and heavenly abode. Such symbols indicate that he was destined to become either a universal monarch (cakravartin) or a great saint, a Tirthankara. In the Svetambara texts there is also an unusual prebirth episode, unknown to the Digambaras: a change of womb during the early embryonic period. This story maintains that the child was originally conceived by a brahman couple, Rsabhadatta and Devananda. But Sakra, king of the gods, found this situation unacceptable and transferred the embryonic Jina-to-be to the womb of the ksatriya woman Trisala; the baby she had been carrying was placed within Devananda.8 It is well known in the Jaina tradition, as well as in the Buddhist, that only a member of the warrior caste can become a "monarch," whether spiritual or temporal. But this tenet itself reflects the underlying conviction that, contrary to the ordinary caste hierarchy which places brahmans at the apex, it is in fact the ksatriyas who are highest. The rationale here is that a brahman must depend for his subsistence upon the gifts of others; he is thus placed in a lower position than the ksatriya, who not only gets what he wants or

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224 Lord Mahavira needs in the world by his own power, but also supports the brahman out of his goodness and generosity. The brahmanical tradition, of course, rejects any such notion, and it is to the proponents of this tradition that the story seems addressed. Not only does it suggest that the great saint was born as a ksatriya, but also that the opportunity for birth as a brahman was available and yet was rejected. While this tale has been treated here as a pointed metaphor, the Svetambaras consider it true; indeed, they sometimes list the time of embryo transfer as a sixth auspicious moment in Mahavira's life. One scholar has suggested that Devananda was in fact a brahman wife of Siddhartha, and that her child by him was foisted upon the ksatriya queen to give it greater status. 10 This explanation seems dubious, however, in light of the strict rules that have always prevailed forbidding the marriage of a brahman woman and a ksatriya man. Certain modern Jaina scholars have dealt with the problem by proposing that Devananda was perhaps a wet nurse to the baby." This view is given some credence by a famous scene in the Bhagavati-sutra, in which Devananda, now an old woman, meets the fully grown Mahavira. Milk flows from her breast at that moment, while he is heard to say, 'This is my mother.'12 A final important prebirth episode relates how, even in Trisala's womb, the baby Mahavira displayed a highly developed sense of ahimsa, nonharming, the primary moral precept for all Jainas. He lay completely still, lest his kicks should cause his mother pain. Only when he perceived with his supernatural knowledge that Trisala feared him dead did he stir slightly to reassure her. Further, his awareness at this time of the ease with which parental concern is converted into mental anguish moved him to vow that he would not renounce the household life until both his parents had passed away.13 This last point is not accepted by the Digambaras, who believe that Mahavira became a mendicant while his parents still lived, although he solicited and received their permission to do so. Both versions stand in sharp contrast to the description of Gautama's renunciation in the Buddhist Pali literature, where great emphasis is placed upon the need to abandon the worldly life no matter how strong familial pressures to the contrary. The birth was attended by numerous marvels: gods and

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 225 humans celebrated, music filled the air, a general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the land. The prenaming rites were performed on Mount Meru, where the baby had been taken immediately after birth by the power of Sakra. Following the ritual bath and various auspicious rites, the child was named Vardhamana, he who brings prosperity, apparently because his parents' wealth had increased markedly during the pregnancy. The name Vardhamana was of course only the first of many to be given him: Vira (Hero); Mahavira (Great hero);14 Sanmati (Of excellent wisdom); Kasyapa, his lineage name; Jnatrputra, 15 his clan name; and sramana bhagavan (venerable) Mahavira (the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira). Mahavira's Early Life It should be noted that both Siddhartha and Trisala are described in the Acaranga-sutra as followers of Parsva, 16 the penultimate Jina of the time cycle that Mahavira was to complete. The historicity of this Parsva, who is said to have flourished in Banaras circa 850 B.C. , seems definite. Buddhist texts refer to the existence of large numbers of Niganthas (Unattached ones) who followed the catuyama samvara"7 the fourfold restraint that Jacobi and others have convincingly identified with the teachings of Parsva. 18 Such references, moreover, suggest a Jaina community older than that of the Buddhists, hence predating Mahavira as well. This conclusion is based upon the fact that sectarian writings of the period were not ordinarily willing to grant "established" status to rival groups only then developing (witness the failure of Jaina texts to provide any mention whatsoever of the Buddha or his followers). The Niganthas of the Pali literature, therefore, must have been members of a very ancient religious order. 19 Little information is available pertaining to Mahavira's childhood. There is one story of how he subdued a terrifying snake by means of his great courage and peaceful aura; beyond this, we know virtually nothing. It can be assumed that as a member of a royal household the child must have spent his time in mastering the arts suitable to the vocation of a prince: writing, mathematics, archery, and the like. -- With regard to Mahavira's family life after coming of age,

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226 Lord Mahavira both traditions provide commentaries; these diverge along lines generally corresponding to those laid down in the controversy over the saint's vows in utero. Svetambaras contend that the young man fulfilled all duties of the householder: that he married the princess Yasoda, fathered one daughter called Priyadarsana20 and, as mentioned above, continued in this role until both his parents died. The Digambaras, on the other hand, believe that Mahavira remained a bachelor throughout his life (although they do not hold that this is a prerequisite to the attainment of Jinahood). In general, their version stresses his disinclination for worldly affairs from an early age. Both traditions agree that when Mahavira was thirty years of age certain gods appeared and urged him to renounce the worid; only thus could he fully develop the predispositions towards becoming a Tirthankara that had been fostered during so many previous lives. This encouragement of the Jina-to-be is customarily performed by a particular type of god called Laukantika, worldender; the designation refers to the fact that such beings are in their last birth but one (that is, that they will take human form and achieve moksa, release, in the very next lifetime).21 Their words to Mahavira: Victory, victory to thee, gladdener of the world! Victory, victory to thee, fortunate one! Luck to thee, bull of the best ksatriyas! Awake, reverend lord of the world! Establish the dharmatirtha (teaching of the holy path) for the sake of every living being in the entire universe; it will bring supreme benefit to all!22 The Great Renunciation Mahavira's renunciation is made much of in the texts; indeed, such an act engenders widespread glorification of the renunciant in Jaina communities even today. One reads that he was adorned with garlands by the gods, then carried on a palanquin in magnificent procession through the city and beyond it to a large park. There, accompanied by a great retinue, he descended from his seat and, beneath a holy asoka tree, rencunced all possessions. According to the Digambaras he rernoved his clothing and garlandornaments and then, following the ancient tradition, pulled out his hair by hand; this final act indicates both an end of concern for the body and willingness to face pain for the sake of the goal.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 227 Having thus become "sky-clad" (totally nude), he abandoned the household life.23 The Svetambara version of this event states that after arriving at the park Mahavira isolated himself and sat, fasting, for twoand-a-half days. Then still completely alone, he put on a devadusya (divine cloth) given to him by Sakra, tore out his hair as above, and set forth upon the mendicant's path.24 It is further said that he continued to wear the deva-dusya for thirteen months thereafter;25 at that point, the garment was accidentally caught on a thorn bush and pulled off. Either Mahavira neglected to pick it up or he remained unaware of the loss until later, when the cloth had already been carried off by a brahman.26 The latter narrative brings to attention what is doubtless the single most important point of contention between the two traditions: is a man who wears clothing truly a monk? The Digambaras believe that Mahavira and the other Jinas were skyclad at all times after their respective renunciations, and that anyone who claims to be a true follower of the Jina's path, a Jaina mendicant, must adopt the practice of nudity. The fact that Mahavira eventually became skyclad even in the Svetambara story does not alter the basic difference of intent in the two recensions. Whereas the Digambaras clearly show the renunciant purposely casting aside all garments, the Svetambaras not only suggest that he wore clothes for a time but even that he may not have giver them up voluntarily. Of course, they do not assert that the greai saint was attached to clothing; after all, he never bothered to obtaini a second garment. Indeed, one passage in the Svetambara canon goes so far as to show Mahavira saying "I uphold the practice of nudity."27 Nevertheless, the Svetambaras maintain that he did not require his mendicant disciples to go naked. All of this is nothing less than anathema to the Digambaras, for whom the retention of clothing indicates the retention of shame; hence it constitutes a falling away from the strict renunciation of all possessions, internal as well as external, that is required of a Jaina monk. Of course a man who goes naked may still harbor a sense of shame; nudity alone does not make one a monk. But for the Digambara the use of any clothing whatsoever is an absolute indicator of residual shame and thus negates all pretensions to monkhood. The controversy is deepened by Svetambara doctrine

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228 Lord Mahavira concerning the practices of Jinas other than Mahavira. Not only do they maintain that Rsabha, first Tirthankara of the present cycle, went naked in the same rather haphazard or optional manner that Mahavira did Tsee pl. 1), but they hold further that the twenty-two remaining Jinas never abandoned the clad state. (It is even suggested that some of them wore decorative clothes of variegated colors.)28 In the context of such a belief, Mahavira's practice of nudity can be depicted as a departure from the tradition of his predecessor, Parsva. This theory is based mainly upon the Kesi-Gautama-samvada,29 a dialogue in the Svetambar text Uttaradhyayana-sutra. Here Kesi, a fully-clad mendicant disciple of Parsva, is discussing doctrinal issues with the naked monk Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahavira. The two consider certain differences in doctrine between their respective sects, especially those pertaining to the use of clothing. They eventually arrive at a compromise, concluding that external signs are of little consequence and function merely to help identify various groups engaging in particular practices.30 The underlying implication of the dialogue is, of course, that since Parsva is more ancient than Mahavira his teachings are in some sense superior; thus it is better to remain clad, or at most to have nudity as an optional practice. The Digambaras reject the authenticity of this dialogue, as well as the sort of compromise it explicitly suggests. Indeed, the history of Jainism is rather remarkable for the almost total lack of doctrinal accommodation between sects that has taken place over the centuries, especially regarding the issue of nudity. There was only one apparent compromise" movement, now long extinct, that probably flourished in South India circa A.D. 500. Literary evidence indicates that monks of this sect, known as Yapaniyas, went naked in the forest but wore a single piece of clothing (eka-phalaka) when in populated areas. 31 They recognized the authenticity of the Svetambara scriptures, and they propounded two doctrines traditionally acceptable only to Svetambaras: that women can attain salvation and that the omniscient being partakes of food. The Yapaniyas seem to have eventually merged into the larger Digambara community by which they were surrounded; their tendencies toward a more ecumenical Jainism died with them.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 229 The Tradition of Parsva: Caturyama-dharma A second issue raised by the discussion between Kesi and Gautama has to do with the apparent difference betwee the "law of the four restraints" (caturyama-dharma preached by Parsva and the five great vows (panca mahavrata) taken by mendicant followers of Mahavira.32 The affiliation of Mahavira's own parents with the tradition of Parsva has already been noted, as has the existence Buddhist materials which specifically identify caturyama with this tradition. Whereas Digambaras may reject the authenticity of the Kesi-Gautama dialogue, particularly with regard to its position on nudity, the Buddhist reference to caturyama forces nem to confront the "discrepancy" between the teaching of Parsva and Mahavira which this dialogue seems to excess. The problem is rendered even more crucial by the Svetambaras' use of this discrepancy to support their view that not all Jinas propound identical doctrines; once such variation is admitted, it is only a small step to suggesting that Parsva need not have required nudity even if Mahavira did.33 Although Buddhists employ the term caturyama-samavara (Pali: catuyama-samvara to describe the teachings of Parsva, they fail to make exactly what the term entails. 34 The Svetambara canon gives the first comprehensive definition. Here, the caturyama is said to involve restraint from four sorts of actions injury, nontruthfulness, taking what is not given and possession.35 This list agrees with that of Mahavira exept that it omits the fourth of his five vows, which specifically prohibits sexual activity.36 But even the Svetambara have not been willing to suggest that Parsva allowed the monks to engage in such activity; their later eleventhcentury commentators Abhayadeva and Santyacarya integrated the vow of nonpossession as including celibacy.37 Even so, they imply that the slight difference in emphasis between the two sets of rules does leave open the possibility of variation from one Jina to the next. Western scholars, following Jacobi, have generally accepted the Svetambara interpretation and understood the caturyama as above, prohibiting four specific kinds of action.38 The recent research of P. K. Modi, however, shows that this interpretation is subject to serious difficulties.39 First, we should expect Mahavira, as a follower of the tradition of Parsva, to have initially taken the

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230 Lord Mahavira same vows as his predecessor. Yet even the Acaranga-sutra of the Svetambaras has him pledging only to follow a single great restraint called Samayika-caritra, which entails avoiding all evil actions whatsoever.40 Moreover, the term caturyama never appears in Digambara literature; Mahavira is invariably said therein to have undertaken the Samayika-samyama, which in the Bhagavati-sutra is shown to be identical to the Samayika-caritra. 41 In light of these facts, Modi has suggested that caturyama did not imply four vows at all, but rather the four modalities (mind, body, speach, and the senses) through which evil could be expressed.42 Thus, he concludes, both Parsva and Mahavira practiced and taught the same, single, all encompassing Sarnayika restraint, while the fivevows that Mahavira set forth are no more than a specification of the main areas of conduct to which this restraint applied. Whether or not any variation of doctrine between Jinas is possible remains an open question; in any case, the "caturyama evidence" so often used in support of such a possibility can no longer be considered particularly significant. Addressing the issue of nudity more directly, the Svetambaras have cited passages from the Buddhist Pali texts that talk of certain "eka-sataka" (one-cloth) Niganthas;43 this is taken as testimony to the clothed state of at least soine Jaina monks in Mahavira's time. The Digambaras interpret this admittedly unbiased evidence as referring simply to certain laynien who progressively renounce their possessions while continuing in the household life. 44 This sort of renunciation involves eleven stages (pratima); in the final stage, called ailaka (perhaps Prakrit for acelaka, - unclothed), the aspirant retains only one piece of clothing.45 Such "progressive renunciants" are found in the Digambara community even today. They take no "great" vows (mahavrata) and thus technically remain house-holders until such tiine as these vows, which go hand in hand with complete nudity, are taken. Digambaras further cite a passage from the Svetambaras' oun Acaranga-sutra in support of their position. This passage states that weak men, who cannot tolerate going sky-clad but wish to practice fasting and other virtuous activities should do so while continuing to wear clothing. 46 The Digambaras wish to identify the "clothed Niganthas" of the Buddhist sources with these "weak" practitioners--whom they regard as engaged in beneficial but not

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 231 moksa-producing activities.47 Even some of their own books, such as Mulacara, seem to support such modified practices in certain unusual cases.48 But to suggest that these practices are legitimate for all monks, as well as for a Tirthankara, is of course unacceptable to them. Modern scholars tend to favor the Svetambara contention that followers of Parsva did wear clothes while those of Mahavira did not.49 Some have suggested that Mahavira instituted the practices of nudity as a result of meeting with and being influenced by the naked ascetic Makkhali Gosala, eventually leader of the Ajivika school. There is an apparent correspondence in time between their meeting and Mahavira's "loss" of his garment. It has been held that this is too great a coincidence to ignore;50 but this contention is somewhat weakened by the fact that the Ajivikas were far from being the only mendicant sect of that period given to nudity. Furthermore, the canonical description of the first encounter between the two men shows Gosala as a clothed householder who threw away his garments and begged Mahavira to take him as a disciple.51 The whole problem of this and other contacts between these teachers is of great interest to the study of both doctrine and practice in Jainism; we shall have reason to return to it shortly// In the final analysis, Digambaras have shown very little interest in such academic discussions. Svetambaras have traditionally recognized two sorts of monks, the jinakalpin (who follows Mahavira's example and lives alone, naked, in the forest) and the sthavirakalpin (who lives clothed and in an ecclesiastical community), and have considered both practices equally valid paths to salvation; but all such distinctions are heretical and even blasphemous to the Digambaras. 52 For them, nudity remains the necessary condition for moksa; hence they denounce Svetambara mendicants as false Jainas (Jainabhasa). On this level, the level of faith and practice, matters of textual criticism and scholarly research have had negligible impact. Thus the two sects have remained generally indifferent to one another through the ages; there have been no joint councils and few cordial meetings of monks. Encounters between the two laities have been purely for the purpose of disputation; indeed, it is only recently that leaders of the long-estranged communities have begun to suggest that, in light of the Jainas' extreme minority position in

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232 Lord Mahavira India, certain joint activities might be valuable. Thus far these have been restricted to shared celebration of the auspicious moments in Mahavira's career. It remains to be seen whether such efforts will be fruitful in healing a rift of two millennia. When such factors are considered as the continuing Digambara claim that the Svetambara scriptures are totally inauthentic, or the still prevalent Svetambara practice of markings the lips, eyes, and torsos of naked Jina-images (even those of Mahavira) in their temples, thus "clothing" them and making it impossible for Digambaras to worship there, it must be admitted that a full-fledged reconciliation may not be forthcoming in the near future. Mahavira's Encounters with Makkhali Gosala To return to Mahavira's post renunciation career, both traditions have him wandering from place to place for twelve years, engaging with grim determination in severe penances. The most important of these voluntary mortifications involved complete fasting-abstaining from water as well as food, sometimes for as long as a week. The epithet digha-tapassi (he who engages in extended penances), which is applied to Niganthas in the Buddhist texts, probably alludes to this sort of fasting:53 The practice has made an indelible impression upon the Jaina psyche; even today many of the Jina's followers, from children to the elderly, occasionally undertake long waterless fasts as a major expression of the holy life. This emphasis upon fasting, more than any other single factor, distinguishes the religious practice of the Jaina layperson from that of the Hindu communities which surround him. Jaina monks undergo such fasts as a common and regular aspect of their daily existence. The Diga, baras have a tradition that Mahavira observed a vow of silence during these twelve years as a wanderer. Since silence is not a prerequisite to the saintly life even for Digambaras, we may well be justified in regarding this notion as a sectarian device aimeu at denying certain episodes found in the Svetambara version of the same period. Of greatest import here are several stories to which we have alluded earlier, involving Mahavira and the Ajivika Makkhali Gosala. Gosala was by profession a bard, spinning tales and showing pictures for the entertainment of local audiences. He was the follower of an old, established Ajivika sect;

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 233 eventually he came to be regarded as the leader of this sect and as the chief spokesman of the "fatalist" doctrines to which it adhered. According to the Vyakhyaprajnapti (also known as the Bhagavati-sutra), 54 a prominent Svetambara scripture, Gosala heard tales of Mahavira's miraculous powers, particularly his uncanny accuracy in prognostication; wishing to come into contact with such power7s himself, the Ajivika came to the future Jina and asked to become a disciple. It is further related that the two spent six years together. On one occasion Mahavira displayed his yogic prowess to his companion, when they came across a heretical brahman ascetic named Vesiyayana, who was doing penance by fasting and sitting with hands upraised to the sun for several days. He was covered with lice but was too compassionate to hurt them. Gosala taunted him, saying, "Are you a muni (sage), or a host for lice?" When this insult was uttered a second time Vesiyayana became enraged; stepping back eight paces, he released in Gosala's direction the magical heat which he had accumulated through long yogic practice. But Mahavira quickly neutralized the effects of this deadly heat with a cooling emanation of his own. The brahman recognized that he was no match for Mahavira. Gosala begged to be given the secret of such power. Granting his request, Mahavira described the six-month per hahavira described the six-month penance required for accomplishment of the goal. Gosala then left his teacher and pursued his own career; eventually, through the practices that Mahavira had taught him, he attained great yogic powers and proclaimed himself a Jina. It is said that he made his headquarters in Srasvasti at the workshop of the potter woman Halahala, with whom he lived under compromising circumstances. There he spent his time codifying the Ajivika scriptures and mounting polemics against all rivals, even his former companion and instructor. Makkhali Gosala has one other important part to play in the life of Mahavira. To observe this we must go ahead of the story for a moment to a time long after Mahavira's enlightenment, when the Jina felt it necessary to make public the history of his relation with the Ajivika leader and to show the latter's claim to Jinahood for the sham it was. Gosala reacted to this "slander" with verbal threats against Mahavira's life. When this produced no effect beyond the refusal of Jainas to associate with Ajivikas,

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234 Lord Mahavira he sought out and reviled Mahavira, even using his magic powers to incinerate two of the Jina's disciples when they tried to oppose him. Finally he turned his power on Mahavira himself, accompanying it with a curse: "You are now pervaded by my magic forces, and within six months you will die of a fever. 55 But Mahavira's superiority and purity protected him; although he did become ill, he was able to cure himself. 56 As for Gosala, it is said that the evil power of his attack returned to its source; he became delirious and died soon afterwards in the workshop of Halahala. Both of these tales, found in the Bhagavati-sutra, are unknown to, and thus rejected by, the tradition of the Digambaras. While they would clearly suppress, on the basis of doctrinal considerations, any notion of a perfected Jina engaging in worldly dispute, their nearly total lack of awareness of the significant place held by Makkhali Gosala in Mahavira's pre-enlightenment career is less easily explained.57 Perhaps the idea of a Jina-to-be associating so intimately with a heretic was repugnant to them. Other possibilities have been suggested by Hoernle and Basham. The former makes the rather sweeping statement that the Ajivikas were in fact themselves the earliest form of the Digambara movement; this idea seems to be based on certain similarities in the dietary practices of the two sects (for example, the lack of a begging bowl), as well as on the rather unconvincing premise (noted above) that nudity was introduced by the Ajivikas. 58 Basham's theory is more reasonable, suggesting that many Ajivikas were absorbed into the Digambara community in medieval times. 59 In either case, it might follow that the Digambaras would thus have quashed all reference to the "heretical" background of part of their community in order to ensure homogeneity and orthodoxy in the present; this phenomenon is common enough in cases.of conversion and assimilation. It would seem however, that we can understand the Digambaras' glaring omission of so important a figure as Gosala without resorting to such speculations. In their displeasure over certain portions of the codified canonical recension of Pataliputra, they probably rejected so much material as to leave themselves with virtually no canon whatsoever. This explanation also fits well with the Digambaras' extreme emphasis upon aspects of practice (especially nudity) rather than literature, for in the absence of ancient scripture it was finally only the code

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 235 of conduct of their sect which could define it as a unique and individual entity. Mahavira's Austerities If any single event can be labelled the most significant of Mahavira's life, it must be his attainment of kevalajnana, for it was upon this experience that his entire career as a Tirthankara was based. He is said to have pursued the austerities leading up to this event with unswerving dedication, never once deviating from their practice. The Acaranga-sutra has many passages describing such austerities: Ceasing to inflict injury on living beings, abandoning concern for the body, and having perceived the true nature of the self, the Venerable One, houseless, endured the thorns of the villages (that is, the abusive language of the peasants). Like an elephant at the head of battle, so was Mahavira there victorious. Sometimes, in the country of Ladha, he could not even enter a village (to stay overnight). At other times, when he approached a village the inhabitants met him outside and attacked him, saying, "Get away from here." He was struck with sticks, fists, and lances; he was hit with fruit, clods, and potsherds. Beating him again and again, they raised a huge din. Once when he (sat in meditation), his body unmoving, they cut his flesh, tore his hair, and covered him with dirt. They picked him up and then dropped him, disturbing his meditational postures. Abandoning concern for his body, free from desire, the Venerable One humbled himself and bore the pain. Just as a hero at the head of a battle is surrounded on all sides, so was Mahavira there. Undisturbed, bearing all hardships, the Venerable One proceeded (on the path of salvation].60 Or again Being averse to the impressions of the senses, he wandered about, speaking little. Sometimes in the cold season the Venerable One meditated in the shade. In summer he exposed himself to the heat, squatting

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Lord Mahavira beneath the blazing sun. He lived on rough foods: rice, pounded jujube, and beans. Taking only these three, the Venerable One sustained himself for eight months. Sometimes he drank nothing for two weeks or even for a month. And sometimes he did not drink for more than two months, or even for six months; day and night he was without desire (for food and water). Even when he did eat, his food was always of a tasteless kind. Sometimes he ate only every sixth day, or every eighth, or every tenth, or every twelfth; free of desires, he remained engrossed in meditation. He meditated free from aversion or desire, attached neither to sounds nor to colors; though still in bondage (chadmastha), he never behaved carelessly during his wanderings. 61 Thus: With supreme knowledge, with supreme intuition, with supreme conduct, with supreme uprightness, with supreme valor, with supreme dexterity, with supreme patience.. with supreme contentment, with supreme insight, on the supreme path to that final liberation which is the fruit of truthfulness, restraint, and good conduct, the Venerable One meditated for twelve years on the nature of the self.62 Jainas point with pride to the fact that Gautama Buddha, unlike his Nigantha counterpart, gave up extreme austerities and followed, the "middle path": they suggest that this model of less than single-minded purpose led the Buddhist order (samgha) to fall eventually into various sorts of laxity from which the Jaina community, based upon the example of Mahavira, remained free. 236 The Enlightenment Mahavira's actual attainment of kevalajnana took place precisely twelve years, six monts, and fifteen days after he set out upon the mendicant's path. During the thirteenth year, in Vaisakha, in the second month of summer (May/June), on the tenth day of the waxing moon, when the shadow had turned towards the east... outside the town of Jrmbhikagrama, on the bank

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 237 of the river Rjupalika. not far from an old temple, in the field of the householder Samaga, when the moon was in conjunction with the constellation Uttaraphalguni. (the Veneral e One) sat with joined heels, exposing himself to the hea of the sun. After fasting for two-and-a-half days, taking not even water, engaged in deep meditation, he reached the highest jnana (knowledge) and darsana (intuition), called kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and full.63 When the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira had become a Jina and an arhat (worthy of worship), he was a kevalin Omniscient, comprehending all objects. He saw and knew whence they had come, where they would go, and whether they would be reborn as men, animals, gods, or hell beings. He knew the ideas and thoughts, the food, doings, desires, and deeds of all the living beings in the world." Upon attaining the omniscient state Mahavira became, as we have noted earlier, the twenty-fourth and final Jina of the present cycle. In order to understand exactly what this means, it is necessary to digress once more from the life of Mahavira, this time to explore the larger cosmological system of which that life is a part. The Jaina Universe and the Role of the Tirthankaras Jainas envision the universe as a vast but finite three dimensional structure, somewhat resembling a man with arms akimbo and legs apart. Within this structure are three main tiers. ordered vertically. The middle tier, called Madhya-loka, is of primary concern to us, for here exist the "worlds" in which all human activity takes place. These worlds are arranged in countless (asamkhyata) concentric rings of land surrounding a central island (dvipa), each ring is separated by water, much in the manner of coral reefs. The land of the second ring from the center of this system is divided into inner and outer halves by a range of huge mountains. It is usually believed that human beings cannot be born anywhere beyond this range;65 outlying regions are hence the domain solely of the animals and the vegetable kingdom. The central island is called Jambudvipa, after the jambu tree which stands, atop Mount Meru, at its very center. Jambudvipa

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238 Lord Mahavira comprises seven varsa or "continents": Bharata, Haimavata, Ramyaka, Videha, Hari, Hairanyaka, and Airavata.66 These continents are separated from one another by six great mountains. Of the seven continents, only Bharata, Airavata, and half of Videha are karmabhumi, or realms of action, that is, places in which moksa can be attained. Actions which bring about rebirth in the highest heaven or the lowest hell are also limited to these karma-bhumis. The remaining four-and-a-half continents are bhogabhumi, realms of enjoyment, where there occurs nothing but the experiencing of sense pleasures; such places are not, of course, conducive to renunciation. 67 The first ring surrounding Jambudvipa is called Dhatakikhanda; its land mass is twice that of Jambu, and it has an identical arrangement of continents and bhumis. Next is Puskaravara, which is in turn double the size of Dhatakikhanda; it too has an analogous internal structure. (As we have seen, however, only the interior half of this ring is inhabitable by human beings. Questions of action (karma) versus enjoyment (bhoga) thus become irrelevant beyond this point.) Given the fact that Jinahood can only be attained in a karma-bhumi area, we are now in a position to tentatively calculate how many continents are "available," as it were, to the appearance of a Tirthankara. Jainas perform this calculation by taking the continent-size of Jambudvipa as the standard of measurement. Thus we have: Jambudvipa 21/2 karma-bhumi continents Dhataki-khanda 5 karma-bhumi continents (2/2 x 2, since each continent is twice the size of its Jambudvipa counterpart) Puskaravara 5 karma-bhumi continents (27/2 x 4 = 10 x 1/2 = 5, since each continent is four times the size of its Jambudvipa counterpart, but only half the land is inhabitable by human beings). This gives a total of twelve-and-a-half continents conceivably suitable for the arising of a Jina. The situation is complicated further, however, by the Jainas' belief that karma-bhumi areas

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 239 are subject to an endless temporal cycle, half progressive and half regressive. These half- cycles, called utsarpini and avasarpini, respectively, are themselves each divided into six time stages"(kala as follows: utsarpini (progressive half-cycle): 1) dusama-dusama (extremely unhappy) 2) dusama (unhappy) 3) dusama-susama (more unhappy than happy) 4) susama-dusama (more happy than unhappy) 5) susama (happy) 6) susama-susama (extremely happy) avasarpini (regressive half-cycle): 1) susama-susama (extremely happy) 2) susama (happy) 3) susama-dusama (more happy than unhappy) 4) dusama-susama (more unhappy than happy) 5) dusama (unhappy) 6) dusama-dusama (extremely unhappy). 68 The utsarpini and avasarpini follow directly upon one another in unbroken succession; there is no period of pralaya (demanifestation) during which the karma-bhumis are not in one of the above stages. These half-cycles each last for a vast but finite number of years. The life expectancy of human beings dwelling in the karma-bhumis increases with each stage of the utsarpini, and correspondingly decreases with each stage of the avasarpini. It is believed that only during the third and fourth stages of a half-cycle, when there is neither an extremity happiness nor of unhappiness, can anyone possibly attain moksa. The point is that only at such a time are human beings sufficiently short-lived and unhappy to understand impermanence and suffering, yet free enough from misery to conceive of and pursue moksa. Jainas claim that there will be precisely twenty-four Jinas during each half-cycle;69 this is true for every karma-bhumi continent except the Videhas (that is, the "half-in-karma-bhumi" areas of each dvipa), which are said to be always in a condition equivalent to the end of the third stage. This latter claim underlies the further contention that at every moment there is a living Jina somewhere. In other words the path of salvation is open at any

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240 Lord Mahavira time; one need only be born into one of the Videhas in order to have an immediate chance for moksa.70 At the present time our earth (Bharata-ksetra) is in a descending or regressive half-cycle, an avasarpini. The first Tirthankara of this avasarpini was Rsabha, who is said to have introduced agriculture, the caste system, law, monarchy, and the spiritual path of the mendicant. Thus he was, in the Jaina view. not only the first to undertake the holy life in this era, but also responsible for laying the groundwork of our entire civilization. After living for an extremely long period, approximately 600,000 years, he obtained moksa on the summit of Mount Kailasa. The cult of Rsabha has long been extremely popular among Jainas; indeed, during the medieval period, this cult was so well known in India that the Hindu text Bhagavata Purana included Rsabha as an amsavatara (minor incarnation of Visnu).71 We may thus assume that the first Tirthankara has been the object of more worship than even Mahavira; but it is probably not correct to infer that he was ever considered the teacher of our era; this role has belonged to Mahavira alone. One interesting tale, found in the later Puranas, links these two Jinas by suggesting that Rsabha's grandson, Marici, was later born as Mahavira.72 It is further related how this Marici became full of vanity and conceit upon hearing a prophecy of his future Jinahood; such excessive pride necessitated that he become the last (shortest-lived) Jina of the cycle. Scholars like Hiralal Jain have tried to bring the first Jina, and thus the beginnings of Jainism, into historical times, maintaining that the name Rsabha (having the sense of "bull") appears as an honorific term in the Rgueda and could there refer to the Jaina lawgiver.73 More convincing theories, taking note of the yogic, sramanic, and anti-Vaidic underpinnings of Jaina tradition, have sought to discover the roots of this tradition in pre-Aryan Indic civilizations. Nude standing images found in the Indus Valley ruins bear a striking resemblance to the oldest Jaina sculptures;74 further, there may be a link between the Indus bullseals and the bull-insignia of Rsabha. Of the remaining Tirthankaras, only three can in any way be connected with historical evidence. The twenty-second, Nemi, seems to have flourished in Saurashtra, near the famous Girnar mounts (site of the Asokan inscriptions), and to have been a

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 241 contemporary of Krsna.75 Parsva, as we have seen, lived and taught in Banaras; he was of course followed in the same area some 250 years later by Mahavira.76 Thus, while Jainism may very well be pre-Vaidic, the geographical location of at least its two most recent teachers does not suggest an origin in the Indus valley. A. N. Upadhye has proposed that in light of the other sramana sects (Ajivika, Buddhism, the antiritualistic Upanisadic tradition, and so on) which flourished in the Magadha region along with Jainism, we can reasonably postulate a distinct Magadhan religious complex, developed at the foot of the Himalayas where Aryans from the Punjab encountered the non-Vaidic cultures of the Ganges Valley.77 Mahavira's Career as a Tirthankara All these questions remain open to debate. Our aim here is not to solve such problems, but to gain some feeling for the position of Mahavira in the overall Jaina scheme of universal cycles and Tirthankara lineages. It is said that Mahavira was born when seventy-five years, eight-and-a-half months were left in the fourth stage of the current avasarpini, and that he remained in the world for exactly seventy-two years. Thus the fifth stage began less than three years after his death; no more Jinas will appear in our world until it enters the third stage of the upcoming utsarpini. As the fifth and sixth stages last 21,000 years each, it will be a long time before the next half-cycle even begins, and far longer before it reaches its third phase. Hence, despite the fact that there has been an infinite number of Jinas and that somewhere in the universe a Jina is at this very moment preaching the path of salvation, the accomplishment of Mahavira nevertheless assumes majestic proportions when considered from the limited perspective of the average person. By attaining the omniscient state, he reached a position so rare and exalted that we can hardly be surprised to find that most Jainas view him as something more than human. As we have seen, the Digambaras adopt this "more than human" position doctrinally as well as on the level of conventional belief. They describe Mahavira after his enlightenment as totally free from the eighteen defects of human existence-hunger thirst, sleep, sweat, fear, disease, aging, and so on." He is said to have engaged, at that time, in no mundane activities whatsoever, since omniscient

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242 Lord Mahavira cognition and sensory cognition are held to be mutually antithetical. Thus he sat in the lotus posture, maintaining constant omniscient trance, housed in an assembly hall which had been miraculously created by the gods. His body, free from all impurities, shone like a crystal on all sides. 79 Above his head was hoisted the royal insignia of a white umbrella, signifying that nothing could be higher or holier than he. A divine sound (divyadhvani) emanated from his person for the benefit of the audience. As this audience consisted of gods, demi-gous, human beings, and animals, the entire assembly was called samavasarana, a place of resort for all.80 Although the perfected Jina initiated no acts of organization, a Jaina community was nevertheless formed through the efforts of the ganadharas attracted by his Tirthankara nature. In this sense the Jina is conventionally said to have "established" the four-fold tirtha: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. Specifically, according to Digambaras, sixty-six days after the enlightenment there appeared on the scene a brahman called Indrabhuti Gautama; although well-versed in the Vedas and proud of his knowledge, he could not comprehend the Jaina teachings when they were conveyed to him by Indra, king of gods (disguised as a brahman). Thus he went to the assembly hall where Mahavira dwelt in all his splendor. At the mere sight of the pillar standing before this hall, all of Gautama's pride and vanity disappeared; he instantly understood the teachings and became the first of the ganadharas. 81 His brothers, Agnibhuti and Vayubhuti, followed his lead. Soon the three of them were joined by eight other brahmans. These eleven ganadharas formed the nucleus of the new order; having mastered the Jina's doctrine upon hearing his divine sound, they in turn composed all the Jaina litanies, rules of conduct, and so on. According to the Svetambaras, Mahavira's first audience after his enlightenment consisted only of gods, to whom he preached his doctrine for a short time. After a while he approached a ceremonial enclosure, where a Vaidic sacrifice was in progress. There he delivered a sermon on the virtue of nonharming and was subsequently able to convert three of the brahman priests, Indrabhuti Gautama and his two brothers. These three, along with their 1,500 disciples, were immediately received into the new mendicant order. Soon thereafter, eight other brahmans were

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainisrn 243 converted, completing the winner circle" of eleven chief disciples, the ganadharas.82 The addition of their many followers to the Jaina order swelled its ranks to over 4,000. Countering the Digambara belief that a person endowed with kevalajnana does not partake of ordinary human food (kavala-ahara, literally "food made into morsels") but subsists merely on the (involuntary) intake of some subtle food, such as that partaken by the gods, 83 Svetambaras maintain that existence in the state of embodiment requires even the most exalted one to obey bodily laws. Herce they suggest that the Jina must eat and perform other mundane activities; but these activities are said to in no way interfere with his omniscient cognition. 84 Consistent with their belief in the relatively "human" characteristics of the Jina, the Svetambaras have preserved a meticulous record of Mahavira's travels during and after his enlightenment. The following passage, for example, lists the various places in which he resided during the forty rainy seasons of his teaching career: At that time, the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira stayed the first rainy season in Asthikagrama, three rainy seasons in Campa and Prsticampa, twelve in Vaisali and Vanijagrama, fourteen in Rajagrha and the suburb of Nalanda, six in Mithila, two in Bhadrika, one in Sravasti, and one in the town of Papa in King Hastipala's office of the scribes; that was his very las, rainy season.85 'Regardless of their dispute over the location and method of his-preaching, both Digambaras and Svetambaras agree thai during Mahavira's career as a Tirthankara the Jaina congregation grew to a large number: ostensibly, 14,000 monks, 36,000 nuns (under the supervision of the chief nun Candana), 159,000 laymen, and 318 000 laywomen.86 The preponderence of female followers probably resulted from the fact that many men had more than one wife, and that these wives became nuns when their husbands took the vows of a monk. 87 Mahavira's Death It is agreed by both traditions that at the age of seventy two the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira passed into nirvana; he thus became a 'siddha, one who is fully liberated, forever free of

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244 Lord Mahavira embodiment. Svetambara records tell us that this event took place at the office of scribes maintained by King Hastipala in the town of Papa, identified with modern Pavapuri, near Patna. The traditional date of Mahavira's death is fixed near the end of rainy season in 527 B.C.; it is from this date that Jainas count the Viranirvana period, the longest continuous "era" in Indian history. 88 At the time of Mahavira's departure from this earth, only two of the eleven ganadharas--Indrabhuti Gautama and Sudharmanstill lived. 89 It is believed that Indrabhuti Gautama attained omniscience in a matter of hours after his teacher had passed away. These two nearly simultaneous events are celebrated by the Jainas in their Dipavali (Festival of lights), following a tradition supposedly begun by the local kings on that very day so many years ago. As the Kalpa-sutra says: On that night during which the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira died ... cut as under the ties of birth, old age, and death, became a siddha, finally liberated ... his oldest disciple, the monk Indrabhuti of the Gautama gotra, obtained the highest knowledge and intuition, called kevala, which is infinite, supreme ... and full. And on that night during which the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira died ... the eighteen confederate kings of Kasi and Kosala, the nine Mallikas and nine Licchavis insiituted an illumination on the day of the new moon, which was a fasting day; for they said: "Since the internal (bhava) light (of intelligence) is gone, let us make an illumination with the external (dravya) light (of matter). 91 Points of Controversy between the Two Major Sects In the account above many examples of conflict have been noted between the Digambara and Svetambara traditions of Jainism. It might now be helpful to categorize these points of controversy in a general way.92 Three issues seem paramount: 1. The nature of the omniscient Jina. For Digambaras, such a being engages in no worldly activity and no bodily functions (eating meals, for example), since these are considered antitheticai to omniscient cognition. He "preaches" by means of a magical "divine sound." Svetambaras see the Jina as engaging in normal human activities and functions while simultaneously enjoying omniscient cognition.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 245 2. The role of nudity in the holy life. Digambaras, as their name implies, stress the practice of nudity as an absolute prerequisite to the mendicant's path-the only mode of conduct through which one can become truly free of shame and sexuality and thus hope to attain moksa. Svetambaras emphasize the optional nature of this practice; while they decry attachment to clothing, they do not admit that clothing per se is an obstacle to salvation. The Diganbaras hold that retaining any possession is functionally equivalent to retaining all possessions, that is, to remaining a householder. Hence they deny that Svetambara monks are monks at all. 3. The position of women. Digambaras believe that a woman lacks the adamantine body necessary to attain moksa; hence, she must be reborn as a man before such an attainment is possible. Svetambaras take the opposite position, stating that women can be born with such bodies and thus are capable, in the present lifetime, of the same spiritual accomplishments as men. Indeed, they claim that the nineteenth Tirthankara, Malli, was a woman.93 These conflicting doctrines seem to grow mainly out of the social implications of the nudity issue. The idea of a woman appearing naked in public, particularly while subject to the menstrual cycle, is unacceptable to Indian society at large; neither of the Jaina traditions allows its nuns to go about sky-clad.94 For the Svetambaras, of course, this poses no doctrinal difficulty with regard to salvation, but for the Digambaras it is an automatic disqualification. Other important differences in practice between the two traditions which should be noted here concern begging and eating habits. Svetambara monks carry small pots ad beg food door-todoor. They may not enter a house to eat; all food and water must be collected in bowls, taken back to the monastery, and there entirely consumed. A Digambara monk, on the other hand, has no pot or bowl; he receives offerings in his upturned palms, called pani-patra (handbowl). He may enter a house and eat if he has gone there only to beg, without any prior invitation.95 Even inside, however, he must use no plate or untensils. Finally, the Svetambara monks beg and take food two or three times daily; Digambaras are restricted to a single meal. Thus concludes this brief introduction to the foundations of

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246 Lord Mahavira the Jaina faith and to the two tradition through which this faith has manifested itself. We have seen the ways in which these traditions differ: one a bit more conservative, with a doctrine that rests heavily upon faith; the other tending to be more liberal, relaxed, pragmatic, and oriented toward scriptural and historical evidence. But in the remainder of this book we shall discover that on many levels, from the layperson's daily practice to the logical intricacies of the philosopher-monk's most abstruse formulations, it is in fact a combination of essential contributions from both traditions that has sustained the vital flow of the Jina's teachings through so many centuries. 1. 2. For a detailed description of acarya Santisagara's last days, see Sanmati (Marathi monthly), Oct. 1972, Bahubali, Kolhapur. Jainas have always claimed for themselves a degree of antiquity greater than that of Buddhism, the other important religion of this type. Their claim rests mainly upon an appeal to legendary materials; those few sources which do lend themselves to historical verification might allow us to push the date of Jainism to the ninth century B.C., but certainly no further. (For a more detailed discussion of the evidence available here. see pp. 16-19.) In any case, at this point the fundamental attitudes characterizing any group to which the rubric "non-Vaidic" has been applied should be clarified. They are three in number: rejection of the scriptural authority of the Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanisads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Dharmasatras; denial of the efficacy of sacrifice; and refusal to accord any "divine" status to Brahma, Visnu, Siva, or the great avatars depicted in the eighteen traditional Puranas. While ancient India abounded with various heterodox mendicant sects, only those which displayed this sort of pronounced antagonism towards brahmanical tradition received the appellation sramana. For a discussion of the conflict between the sramanas and brahmanical society, see P. S. Jaini 1970. In ancient times the epithet Jina was applied by various groups of sramanas to their respective, teachers. Mendicant followers of what eventually became known as the Jaina tradition were originally known as Nigantha (Sanskrit Nirgrantha), meaning "the unattached ones." It was only after other sramana sects using the term Jina (e.g., the Ajivikas) either died out or simply abandoned this term in favor of another (as in the case of the Buddhists) that the derived form Jaina (Jina-disciple) came to refer exclusively to the Niganthas. This seems to have occurred by around the ninth century, from which time inscriptions have been found containing the word "vardhatam Jainasasanam" (may the Jaina teaching prosper). See Upadhye 1939. For Buddhist references to Niganthas, see Malalasekera 1938: II, 61-65; C. J. Shah 1932: 5-7, P. S. Jaini 1976b; and n. 17 below. Early Buddhist texts employ this term (titthiya in Pali), as the general (and derogatory) label for teachers of non-Buddhist schools; Jainas have themselves used it exclusively for the teacher propagators of their own faith. Here the traditional Jaina definition is followed in terms of which "Jina" and 4

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 247 "Tirthankara" are equivalent. (Modern usage sometimes applies the former designation to any kevalin- any person who has attained kevalajnanawhether he goes on to fulfill the role of exalted teacher or not.) For a description of these cycles, see SS: $418. 6. The account given here of the Pataliputra council and the subsequent schism follows main elements of the Digambara and Svetambara description of these events. It should be noted that Svetambaras do not completely accept the Digambara version of the migration incident, contending that Bhadrabahu was at that time not in the south but in Nepal. They also maintain that the schism actually began in the 60th year after the nirvana of Mahavira (A.D. 82), when an order of naked (bodiya) monks was established by one Sivakoti in Rathavirapura; members of this order supposedly became the first of the "sky-clad" sect. (See Stevenson 1915: 70-80; C. J. Shah 1932: 67-74; Schubring 1962. $26-27.) Digambaras, for their part, claim that Bhadrabahu migrated to Mysore together with Candragupta Maurya, first king of the Maurya dynasty, who had become a Jaina mendicant. It is believed that they both ended their lives in the holy manner on the site of modern Shravanabelgola. Numerous inscriptions in that area, dating from the fifth century A.D., lend some credibility to the account of a southward migration, though not necessarily to the fact that either Candragupta or Bhadrabahu took part therein. (See B. L. Rice 1909: intro. 3-10; Saletore 1938: 4, n. 1.) Certain Jaina sources (e.g., the Kannada Vaddaradhane of Sivakoti, circa A.D. 1000) place the great schism not in Pataliputra but in Ujjeni. They also indicate that final separation between the two sects occurred in Valabhi, when those monks wearing a single loincloth (ardha-phalaka) were required by King Lokapala to become fully clothed in white garments; this group thus came to be known as Svetapata or Svetambaras. 7. For the Svetambara accounts of Mahavira's life, see Jacobi 1884; TSPC: X (tr. Johnson); Boolchand 1948; Schubring 1962: $17-22. For the Digambara version, see UP: lxxiv-lxxvi; and Mahapuranu: lxv-cii. For a complete bibliog raphy, see H. Jain 1974: 41-45. The actual transference was carried out by Harinegamesi, commander of Sakra's celestial armies. The antiquity of this legend is attested to by its representation in certain sculptures found at Mathura; these, depicting Harinegamesi as a goat-headed demigod, probably date from around A.D. 200. See Smith 1901. Also see below, Pl. 5. .....na eyam bhuyam na eyam bhavvam, na eyam bhavissam, jam nam arahamta va cakkavatti va ... bhikkhayakulesu varahanakulesu va ayayimsu. KS: $21.Compare: tato kulam olokayanto "Buddha nama vessakule va suddakule va na nibbattanti, lokasammute pana khattiyakule va brahmanakule va dvisu yeva kulesu nibbattanti, idani ca khattiyakulam lokasammatam, tattha nibbattissami" ti kulam passi. Jataka: 1, 40. 10. Jacobi 1884: iniro. xxxi. n. 2. . 11. Boolchand 1948: 23. Devanamda mahani mama ammaga, aham nam Devanamdae mahanie attae. BhS: ix, 33 (8380). 13. tae nam samane bhagavam Mahavire gabbhatthe ceva imevaruyam

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248 14. 15. 16. 17. Lord Mahavira abhiggaham abhiganhai; no khalu me kappai ammap.uhim jivamtehim.... agarao anagariyam pavvaittae. KS: $91.... According to the canonical tradition, the name Mahavira was given to Vardhamana by the gods in recognition of the fortitude and steadfastness with which he performed austerities: bhimabhayabheravam uralam acelayam parisaham sahai tti kattu devehim se namam kayam samane bhagavam Mahavire. AS: $998. A later tradition suggests that they gave him this name when, as a baby, he caused Mount Meru to tremble by pressing it with his toe: akampio va jenam Meru amgutthaena lilae/ teneha Mahaviro namam si kayam surindehim//Paumacariya:ii, 26. Prakrit Nayaputta (or Nataputta): tenam kalenam ... samane bhagavam Mahavire Nayaputte Nayakulanivvatte ... AS: $1002. It is identical with the Pali Nataputta. See Malalasekera 1938: II. 61-65. samanassa bhagavao Mahavirassa ammapiyaro Pasavaccijja samanovasaga yavi hottha. AS: $1002. For an account of the legends surrounding Parsva, see Jacobi 1884: 271-275: Bloomfield 1919; B. D. Jain 1925; Zimmer 1951: 181-204. idha, maharaja, Nigantho Nataputto catuyamasamvarasamvuto hoti. Dighanikaya: 1,57 (Samannaphala-sutta). See Jacobi 1880: also n. 32 below. Jacobi seems to have been the first scholar to recognize this fact: 'The Nirgranthas are frequently mentioned by the Buddhists, even in the oldest part of the Pitakas. But I have not yet met with a distinct mention of the Buddhas in any of the old Jaina Sutras, though they contain lengthy legends about Jamali, Gosala and other heterodox teachers. As this is just the reverse position to that which both sects mutually occupy in all aftertimes, and as it is inconsistent with our assumption of a contemporaneous origin of both creeds, we are driven to the conclusion that the Nirgranthas were not a newly founded sect of Buddha's time. This seems to have been the opinion of the Pitakas too; for we find no indication of the contrary in them." Jacobi 1880: 161. smanassa bhagavao Mahavirassa bhajja Jasoya gottenam Kodinna, dhuya Kasavagottenam, tise nam do namadhejja evam ahijjamti: Anojja i va Piyadamsana i va. AS: $1001. lokante bhavah laukantikah te sarve paritasamsarah, tatascyuta ekam garbhavasam prapya parinirvasyanti. SS: $489. jaya jaya namda! jaya jaya bhadda! bhaddam te jaya jaya khattiya varavasaha! bujjhahi bhagavam loganaha! pavattehi dhammatittham ... KS: $110. vastrabharanamalyani svayam sakrah samadade/ muktany etani putani matva mahatmyam idrsam// UP: xlvii, 305. ... aharanamallalamkaram omuitta sayameva pamcamutthiyam loyam karei .. chattheam bhattenam apanaenam ... egam devadusam adaya ege abie munde bhavitta agarao anagariyam pavvaie. KS: $114. The deva-dusya would appear to be a finely woven piece of cloth thrown over the shoulders: konialam dhavalam suksmam sylltam canarakarair iva/ devadusyam devarajah skandhadese nyadhad vibhoh// TSPC: I. iii. 64. 20. 21. 22. 23

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 249 samvaccharam sahiyam masam jam na rikkasi vatthagam bhagavam/ acelao tato cai tam vosirijja vattham anagare// AS: $465. This narrative is found only in the commentaries and such later works as Hemacandra's TSPC. See Johnson 1962: 40ff. mae samananam niggamthanam pamcamahavvaie sapadikkamane acelae dhamme pannatte. SthS: $916. Devendra (KS: app. I. nn. 7-10) quotes the following in support of these beliefs: "acelatvam" sri Adinatha-Mahavira-sadhunam vastram manapramanasahitam jirnaprayam dhavalam ca kalpate. sri Ajitadivimsatitirthan karasadhunam tu pancavarnam. (Kalpa-sutrakalpatata): acelukko dhammo purimassa ya pacchimassa ya jinassa/ majjhimagana jinanam hoi sacelo acelo yall (Kalpasamarthana). Jacobi 1895:119-129. acelago ya jo dhammo, jo dhammo samtaruttaro/ desiyo Vaddhamanena Pasena ya mahajasa//ekakajjapavannanam visese kim nu karanam/ limge duvihe mehavi kaham vippaccao na te// Kesim evam buvanam tu Goyamo inamabbavi/ vinnanena samagamma dhammasahanamicchiyam// paccayattham ca logassa nanavihavigappanam/jattattham gahaoattham ca loge limgapaoyanam// aha bhavepainna u, mokkhasabbhuyasahana/nanam ca damsanam ceva carittam ceva nicchae// sahu Goyama! panna te, chinno me samsao imo// UtS: xxiii, 29-34. For various traditions concerning the origin of the Yapaniyas, see Upadhye 1933; Premi 1956: 56-73; and n. 92 below. caujjamo ya jo dharnmo, jo imo pamcasikkhio/ desio Vaddhamanena, Pasena ya mahamuni// egaksjjapavannanam, visese kim nu karanam/ dhamme duvihe mehavi, kaham vippaccao na te// tao Kesim buvamatam tu, Goyamo inam abbavi/ panna samikkhae dhammam, tattam tattavinicchayam//... purimanam duvisojjho u, carimanam duranupalao/ kappo majjimaganam tu suvisojjho supalao// sahu Goyama panna te, chinno me samsao imo/... UtS: xxiii, 23-27. For a translation of this section, see Jacobi 1895: 119-129. For further details on the four vows and five vows, see Jacobi 1880; Schubring 1962: $16. purimapacchimavajja majjhmaga bavisam arahamta bhagavamta caujjamam dhammam pannavimti SthS 829.. idha, maharaja, Niganatha catuvarasamvarasamvuto hoti, katham ca... hoti? idha maharaja, Nigantho sabavarivarito ca hoti, sabbavariyutto ca hoti, sabbavaridhuto ca, sabbavaripum ca. Dighanikaya: 1, 57. The Pali commentaries suggest that the word varia this passage refers to water and thus explain the catuyama-samvara as restraint from the use of water (by a Nigantha mendicant). See Malalasekera 1938: II, 61. The Buddha is said to have also taught a kind of catuyama-samvara, in this case involving the four precepts against injury, stealing, lying and unchastity. See Dighanikaya: III, 48. .....caujjamam dhammam tam jaha: savvao panaivayao veramanam, evam musavayao, adinnadanao savvao bahiddhadanao veramanam. SthS: $329. pamca mahavvaya panatta tamana: savvao panaivayao veramanam, savvao musavayao veramanam, savva adinnadanao veramanam, savvao mehunao veramanam, savvao pariggahao eramanam. SthS: $48.

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250 Lord Mahavira 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. "caturyama... sa eva maithunaviramanatmakah pancavratasahitah ..." Quoted from Modi in Pasanahacariu: intro. 47 (from Santyacarya's commentary on the US.). For example, Renou (1953: 115): "Mahavira seems to have developed the ethical aspect of Jainism by introducing a fifth axiom which brought a modification in the import of the fourth ...' Finally, it was he who required his monks to dispense with clothing, setting an example himself, whereas Parsva's monks were clothed." Jacobi's rather pro-Svetambara views on both the caturyama and the issue of nudity generated a good deal of heated discussion between followers of the two Jaina sects. The Svetambara and Digambara positions.in this interesting dispute have been set forth, respectively, by P. C. Nahar 1929, 1930. and K. P. Jain 1930. Modi's ed. (1965) of the Pasanahacariu: intro. 46-53. tao nam samane bhagavam Mahavire... pamcamutthiyam loyam karetta siddhanam namokkaram karei, karetta savam me akaranijjam pavakammam ti kattu samayiam carittam padivajjai. AS: $1013. Jacobi (1884: 198) seems to have gone wrong here by translating Samayika simply as "holy"; failing to understand the technical meaning of the term, he was unable to see its wider implications: See P. S.Jaini 1976a. Modi quotes the following passages from the Digambara text Mulacara: virado savvasavajjam tigutto pihitimdiyo/ jivo samaiyam nama samjamatthanam uttamam// vii, 23. Compare: samaiyammi u kae caujjamam anuttaram dhammam/tivahena phasayamto samaiyasamjao sa khalu// BhS: xxv. 7, 1 (8785). Compare: cauvvihe samjame pannatte tam jaha: manasamjame, vaisamjame, kayasamjame, uvagaranasamjame. SthS: $385.' Anguttaranikaya: III, 384. K. P. Jain quotes SD: vii, 38, 48. See below, ch. VI n. 54. je bhikkhu acele parivusie tassa nam evam bhavai: caemi aham tanaphasam. .. siyaphasam ... teuphasam ... ahiyasaettae ... hiripadicchadanam ca ham no samcaemi ahiyasettae evam se kappai kadibamdhanam dharittae. AS: $433 K. P. Jain 1928: 61ff. Compare: aryikanam agame anujnatam vastram, karanapeksaya bhiksunam hriman ayogyasariravayavo duscarmabhilambamanabijo va parisahasahane va aksmah sa grhnati. Mulacara (Vijayodaya-tika) 427. Premi (1956: 63) is of the opinion that the Mulacara was originally a text of the Yapaniya sect. For example, see Weber (1958: 196): "The severity of the flight from the world appears to have varied. According to the tradition, it must have; increased; originally it entailed neither absolute lack of possessions nor unconditional chastity. It is controversial which of the two forms was introduced at a later time as an absolute commandment. As this supplementary introduction is ascribed to Mahavira, in contrast to the milder commandments of the penultimate tirthankara, it is identical with the formation of the order of monks itself." 43. 44. 46. 47. 48. 49.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 251 50. 51. 52. 54. 55. Ghatge, quoted by Deo (1956: 75): "... some significance must be attached to the coincidence of Mahavira giving up his garment in the year of his meeting with Gosala." sadiyao ya padiyao ya kundiyao ya pahanao ya cittaphalagam ya mahane ayametta . . . BhS: xv, $540. See Basham 1951: 40. The Digambaras recognize these two categories of monks but maintain that both must adhere to the vow of nudity: "jina iva viharantiti jinakalpika eka evety atisayo jinakalpikanam, itaro lingadir acarah prayena vyavarnitarupa eva." Quoted in JSK: II, 329. For the Suetambara view, see Caillat 1968: 9495, n. 22-23. tena kho pana samavena Nigantho Nataputto Nalandayam pativasati mahatiya Niganthaparisaya saddhim. atha kho Dighatapassi Nigantho ... yena bhagava ten' upasankami ... Majjhimanikaya: I, 371 (Upali-sutta). BhS: xv. For a complete account, see Basham 1951: 39-79. tumam nam auso Kasava, mamam tavenam teenam annaitthe samane anto chanham masanam pittajjaraparigayasarire dahavakkamtie chaumatthe ceva kalam karessasi. BhS: xv, $552. Even Svetambaras have difficulty in dealing with this particular episode. They have traditionally shared with Digambaras a belief that the area surrounding a Tirthankara is pervaded by peace and good feeling; to accommodate this belief with an acceptance of the kind of malice and death manifested in the story is no easy task. Hence they classify the whole occurrence as an extraordinary thing (ascarya), an unheard of calamity (upasarga), an event so astonishing that it could happen only once in billions of years. In fact the Svetambaras have noted altogether ten such events discribed in their scriptures. Of the remaining nine, two are points of great controversy with the Digambaras, who of course reject them completely: the transfer of embryo episode (see above, n. 8) and the attainment of Tirthankara status by a woman (see below, n. 93). A list of all ten ascaryas is given in the SthS: $777. It should be noted here that the Digambaras have a similar belief, subsumed under the doctrine of hundavasarpini. This designates a period during which there may occur certain extraordinary events, for example, a calamity befalling aTirthankara. The Tiloyopannatti (k 1615-1623), in which this topic is discussed, informs us that the current avasarpini falls into the hunda category, but the text remains silent on whether or not any untoward events actually affected Mahavira himself. See JSK: II. 91-92. The circumstances surrounding this cure are controversial. First of all, even Svetambaras would never suggest that the Jina was so attached to life as to personally desire such a cure." The text relates, however, that one mendicant disciple, called Siha, was distraught over the possibility that his master's illness would prove fatal. To assuage Siha's anguish, Mahavira sent him to procure a particular medicinal substance which would undo the harmful effects of Gosala's attack. The substance in question is called kukkuta-mamsa, which ordinarily refers to the flesh of a chicken. But no Jaina can accept the idea of even an ordinary mendicant consuming meat, regardless of circumstances; to suggest that a Jina might have done so is nothing less than blasphemous. The Svetambara commentators have therefore gone to great pains to show 56.

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252 . Lord Mahavira that ihe term kukkuta-mamsa here refers not to meat at all but to the flesh of a certain seed-filled fruit (called bijapuraka-kataha, perhaps Aegle Marmelos, or bel-phal in Hindi) commonly used for medical purposes (to treat dehydration;) such "animal" terminology for a herbal substance is often found, for example, in the Ayurveda. The fact that this term was not suppressed or eliminated from the literature long ago supports their interpretation; those commentators closest in time to the original text must have assumed that there would be no danger of misunderstanding. Indeed, it was not until the 1941 publication of Dharmananda Kosambi's Bhagavan Buddha (in Marathi) that anyone in India) even suggested the possibility of taking kukkuta-mamsa as actual flesh. The controversy raised among Jainas by Kosambi's remarks was of course restricted to the Svetambara community; Digambaras, who deny that a kevalin eats anything at all (see below, n. 83), found the entire issue irrelevant. The controversial passage appears as follows in the BhS: xv (Vaidya ed. p. 34.): tam no khalu aham Siha ... kalam karessam; aham nam annaim solasavassaim jine suhatthi viharissami tam gacchaha nam tumam Siha, Mendhiyagamam nayaram, Revaie gahavainie gihe, tattha nam Revaie ... mamam atthae duve kavoyasarira uvakkhadiya, tehim no attho atthi se anne pariyasie majjarakadae kukkudamamsae, tamaharahi, eenam attho ("marjaro" viralabhidhanako vanaspativisesas tena "krtam" bhavitam yat tat tatha, kim tat? ity aha "kukkutamamsakam" bijapurakam kataham, "aharahitti" niravadyatvaditi.") Abhayadevasuri-urtti (quoted in Vaidya ed., p. 66). Digambaras do admit an encounter between the two men shortly after Mahavira's attainment of kevalajnana, but they describe Makkhali Gosala (called Makkadi or Masayari) as a mendicant in the tradition of Parsva who wished to become one of Mahavira's ganadharas. Failing to be chosen, he established his own school for which heresy he is said to have suffered rebirth in the dismal state of the nigodas (see Ch. IV, n. 7): Masayari-purana risino uppanno Pasanahatitthammi/ siri Virasamavasarane agahiyajhunina ni yatt en al / ....asana munai jinakahi yasuyam sampai dikkaya gahiya Golyamad/vippo veyabbhasi tamha mokkham na nanao// Bhavasangraha: k 76-78. See also: siri Viranahatitthe bahussudo Pasmghaganisiso/ Makkadapuranasahu annanam bhasaye loell Jinamaggabahiram jam taccam samdarisiuna pavamano/ niccanigoye patto satto majjesu vivihesu// Darsanasara: k 2023. See Upadhye 1933: K.P. Jain 1928: 20; Prerni 1956: 202; P.S. Jaini 1976a. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: I. 259-269. 59. Basham 1951:277. ninhaya dandam panehim tam vosajja kayam anagare/ aha gamakamtae bhagavam te ahiyase abhisameccall nao samgamasise va parae tattha se Mahavirel evam pi tattha Ladhehim aladdapuvvo vi egada gamoll uvasamkamamtam apadinnam gamamtiyam pi appattam/ padinikkhamittu lusimsu etao param palehi tti// hayapuvvo tattha damdena aha va mutthina aha phalenam/ aha leluna kavalenam hamta hamta bahave kamdimsu// mamsuni chinnapuvvaim ottabhiyae egada kayam/ parissahaim lumcimsu ahava pamsuna uvakarimsu// uccaliya nihinimsu aha va asanao khalaimsu/ 58. Encyclo 50.

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 253 61. 62. 63 64. vosatthakae panatasi dukkhasahe bhagavam apadinnel suro samgamasise va samvude tattha se Mahavire/ padisevamane pharusaim acale bhagavam rittha/AS: $502-507. AS: $512-521. According to Svetambara commentators, during the more than twelve years that Mahavira wandered prior to his enlightenment, he took foo! on only 349 days. At other times he fasted completely. See Devendra's Kalpa-sutra : 185. tassa nam bhagavamtassa ... appanam bhavemanassa duvalasasamvaccharaim vikkamtaim. KS: $120. terasamassa samvaccharassa amtara vattamanassa je se gimhanam mase cautthe pakkhe vaisahasuddhe tassa nam ... dasamie ... Jambhiyagamassa nagarassa bahiya Ujuvaliyaye naie tire viyavattassa ceiyassa adurasamamte Samagassa gahavaissa kattakaranamsi salapayavassa ahe godohiyae ukkuduyanisijjae ayavanae ayavemanassa chatthenam bhattenam hatthuttharahim nakkhattenam jogam uvagaenam jhanamtariyae vattamanassa anamte anuttare nivvaghae niravarane kasine padipunne kevalavarananadamsane samuppanne. KS: $120. See also: bhagavan Vardhamano 'pi nitva dvadasavatsaran/ chadmasthyena jagadbandhur Jrmbhikagramasannidhau/l Rjukulanaditire manoharavanantare/ maharatnasilapatte pratimayogam avasan// sthitva sasthopavasena so' dhastat salabhuruhah/ vaisakhe masi sajyotsnadasamyam aparahnakell ... paramatmapadam prapat paramesthi sa Sanmatih// UP: lxxiv, 348-355. tae nam se bhagavam araha jae jine kevali savvannu savvadarisi sadevamanuyasurassa logassa pariyayam janai pasai, savvaloe sawvajivanam agaim gaim thiim cavanam uvavayam takkam mano manasiyam bhuttam kadam padiseviyam avikammam rahokammam araha arahassabhagi tam tam kalam manavayanakayajoge vattamananam sawajivanam savvabhave janamane pasamane viharai. KS: $ 121. The upper and lower tiers are for the most part occupied by gods and hell beings, respectively. For details, see below, Ch. IV, the sketch of loka-akasa. pran Manusottaran manusyah/ TS: iii. 35. Puskaravaradvipabahumadhyadesabhagi valayavrtto Manusottaro nama sailah tasmat prag eva manusya na bahir iti. SS: $434. . . . . krsyadilaksanasya . . . tatraivarambhat karmabhumivyapadeso veditavyah itarastu... kalpavrksakalpitabhoganubhavanad bhogabhumayah. .. SS: $437. SS : 8418. Some of the Jina's followers may also attair to kevalajnana, hence moksa, during this period. But they are known as kevalin or arhat, not Jina. The distinction here derives not only from the fact that they do not become teacherpropagators, as Jinas do, but also that without the Jina's assistance they would not have reached so exalted a state in the first place. For a discussion on the status of an arhat in Jainism and Buddhism, see Ch. VIII, n. 31. Such acaryas as the famous Kundakunda are reputed to have travelled to these "continents" by yogic methods, obtaining first-hand clarification on doctrinal matters from the Tirthankaras living there. See Pravacanasara: intro. 6. 65. 70.

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254 Lord Mahavira 71. Srimad Bhagavata: V, iii-vii. See P. S. Jaini 1977a. 72. See Visesavasyaka-bhasya: k 1781-1812; AP: xviii., 61-65; TSPC:1, vi. 1-52. 73. H. Jain 1962: 11-18. "Another familiar motif is that of a nude man represented as a repeat motif in rigidly upright posture, his legs slightly apart, arms held parallel with the sides of his body, which recurs later as the Jain Tirthankara, repeated row upon row. The hieratic style favoured by that religious community... its, rigid conformism, and its utilitarian outlook, so resemble the Harappan culture that it appears more than likely that the prehistoric traits were handed down over many centuries." Lannoy 1974: 10. 75. "Even more remarkable is the traditional contemporaneousness of Nemi and the divine hero Krsna ... Krsnaism seems to have left its mark on Jaina legend, a Krsnaism which we must assume ... to be an earlier form than that described in the Brahmanical texts." Renou 1953: 114. See Jacobi 1884: 276-279; and Ch. IX, no. 54. 76. Parsvesatirthasantane pancasad dvisatabdake/ tad abhyantaravartyayur Mahaviro 'tra jatavan// UP: Ixxiv, 279. 77. See Upadhye, intro. to Pravacanasara. For eighteen imperfections (dosa) from which a kevalin is forever freed, see Upasakadhyayana: k 52-56. 79. It is said that even the blood which flowed through his veins became transparent or milky in color (gokkhirapandure mamsa-sonie, SamS: $111). Zimmer (1951:209) suggests that the use of alabaster in making Jina images, as well as the practice of pouring milk over these images during the abhiseka, can be traced to this belief. 80. For a description of the samavasarana. see AP: xxii, 76-312; TSPC: 1 iii, 452-477. See below, pl. 10. 81. Pillars which stand before Digambara temples are thus called manastambha (that which brings an end to pride); these typically include at their apex a four-faced Jina in samavasarana. For further details, see Fergusson 1891: 276-278. U. P. Shah 1955: 60 ff. See below, pl. 23. 82. See Solomon 1966, Visesavasyaka-bhasya : k 1993-2080. For the Digambara position on this as well as on strimukti see Pravacanasara [Tatparyavrtti): 1,20; iii, 25. For a refutation of the Digambara views (by Yapaniyacarya Sakatayana) see Strinirvana-Kevalibhuktiprakarane. 84. Svetambara commentators have sought to "refine" these activities in the case of the Jina by adding that he did not beg; food was brought to him by the disciple Loharya. It is held, moreover, that no one ever saw him eat or engage in other bodily functions; these were carried out in absolute privacy: pacchanne aharaninare adisse mamsacakkhuna/ SamS: $111. 85. KS: $122. 86. ibid.: $133-135. This step seems to have been preferable to functional widowhood. The Jainas were probably the first religious sect in India to open their ranks in this manner to the female relatives of initiates. See Ch. VIII n. 8. 83. 87

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Vardhamana and the Foundations of Jainism 255 88. One Jaina source (Hemachandra's Parisistaparva: viii, 341) places this event at 427 B.C.; this is somewhat closer to the approximate date of 477 B.C. put forth by Jacobi (1932: intro.vii). See Basham 1951: 77ff. H. Jain (1974: 5052) refutes these views in favor of the traditional date. 89. For details concerning the ganadharas, see Ch. II. 90. KS: $126. 91. jam rayanim ca nam samane bhagavam Mahavire ..... java dukkhappahine tam rayanim ca nam nava Malli nava Licchavi Kasi-Kosalaga attharasa vi ganarayano amavase parabhoyam posahovavasam patthavaimsu, gate se bhavujjoe davvujjoyam karissamo. KS: $127. Compare: tatas tu lokah prativarsam adarat, prasiddha-dipalikayatra bharate/samudyatah pujayitum jinesvaram, jinendranirvanavibhutibhaktibhak//Harivamsapurana: lxvi, 21. 92. 93 Gunaratnasuri, a Svetambara writer (circa 1400), summarizes the main features of the various Jaina sects as follows: Jainah dvividhah Svetambara Digambaras ca. tatra Svetambaranam rajoharana-mukhavastrikalocadi lingam, colapattakalpadiko vesah . . . Digambara punar nagnyalingah panipatras ca. te caturdha Kasthasamgha-Mulasamgha-MathurasamghaGopyasamgha bhedena. Adyas trayo 'pi samghah ... strinam muktim kevalinam bhuktim sadvratasyapi sacivarasya muktim ca na manvate, Gopyas tu... strinam muktim kevalinam bhuktim ca manyante. Gopya Yapaniya ity apy ucyante ... sesam acare gurau ca deve ca sarvan. Svetambarais tulyam, nasti tesam mithah sastresu tarkesv aparo bhedah. Saddarsanasamuccaya: iv, 1. For a history of the three samghas mentioned in this passage, see Johrapurkar 1958. In addition to its unique claim that Tirthankarahood is available to women, the Svetambara legend of Malli provides useful insight into Jaina ideas on the factors leading to a female birth. It is said that the soul which later became Malli was in a former life a male, specifically, a king named Mahabala. This king, together with seven friends, renounced the world and became a Jaina mendicant. All eight made a solemn agreement to undertake an identical number of fasts as part of their austerities. Mahabala, however, constantly found excuses (ill health, and so on) to skip meals; he thus abrogated the agreement by deviously accumulating a larger number of fasts than his friends. His conduct being in all other ways quite faultless, and including the several virtues prerequisite to Tirthankarahood, he attained in the second subsequent birth to the destiny of a teacher-savior. The prior misdeed of "cheating' on a pact, however, could not go without retribution. Thus the soul of this being, although ready for the exalted status of a Tirthankara, was born as a female, Malli. During her youth she was sought after by numerous lustful suitors, sexual object and by being the cause of violence, she renounced the world, became a nun, attained to kevalajnana, and propagated the Jaina doctrine. Both Digambaras and Svetambaras, while disagreeing over the verify of this particular story, share the notion that such vices as cheating, capriciousness, greed and cunning are the fundamental causes of rebirth as woman. For the Svetambara account of Malli, see Jnatrdharmakatha-sutra: viii; TSPC: VI, vi, 19-213. For the Digambara version, see U.P. Ixvi, 1-65. For a sculptural representation of the female Malli, see U.P. Shah 1956. See

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256 94 Lord Mahavira Asadhara, a Digambara writer of the thirteenth century, approved of administering vows of nudity to a woman on her deathbed; he appears to have been the only authority to adopt such a position, however: yad autsargikam anyad va lingam uktam jinaih striyah/pumvat tad isyate mrtukale svalpikrtopadheh//SD: viii, 38. For details on the rituals pertaining to this practice, see Ch. VII. 95.

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17 YAKSINI OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH JINA* -Umakant P. Shah Siddhayika (Svetambara) Siddhayika is one of the four principal yaksis in the Jaina pantheon of both the sects and is worshipped by the same name. Her position as a principal yaksi is wholly due to Master, Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Jina. Yaksinis like Ambika and Padmavati have attained more prominence-the first because of the antiquity of her cult and the second because of her being a snake-deity, and because of being a yaksi of Parsvanatha who is a prominent figure in the Jaina Tantra.? Siddhayika is worshipped in only one principal variety of form, namely, the four-armed one, in the Svetambara traditions. Her chief distinguishing symbols are the book and the lion vehicle. It should be noted that lion is also the cognizance of her Master, Mahavira. According to Hemacandra, she is greenish in appearance and rides on the lion. In her right hands she shows the book and the abhaya, while she carries the citron and the lute in the left ones. Both the Pravacana-saroddhara-tika and the Mantradhiraja kalpa follow this tradition.3 According to the Nirvanakalika, the lute in one of the left hands is replaced by the arrow while the rest of the symbols remain unchanged. Silpa texts the Devatamurti-parkarana and the Rupamandana follow the Nirvankalika.5 The Acaradinakara gives another form. Riding on the lion the goddess shows the book and the abhaya in her right hands while she carries the noose and the lotus in the left ones. The devi is green in complexion.. * S.VU. Oriental Journal, Vol. 20, 1977.

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258 Lord Mahavira A figure of the goddess is found on a pillar in the rangamandapa of the Vimala Vasahi, Abu. The goddess here stands in tribhanga and carries the book and the vina in the right and the left upper hands. The right lower one is held in the varada mudra while the fourth hand is mutilated. Her vehicle sitting near the left foot, though mutilated, can still be identified as the lion (fig. 1). Another sculpture of the yaksi is found from a temple in Cambay (fig. 2). The goddess here sits in lalitasana with her left leg tucked up and the other one hanging. Over her head 'is the miniature figure of her Master Mahavira while a mall lion is seen in front of her bhadrasana. The book and the vina are held in her right and the left upper hands. The right lower one is held in the abhaya pose while the corressponding left hand carries the citron. A third sculpture of the yaksi with identical symbols is found from Patan. On the outer wall of the sanctumn of Kharatara Vasahi, Delvada, Abu, is a figure of Siddhayika in a sitting posture and carrying the vina and the book in the right and the left upper hands and showing the fruit and the abhaya mudra in the corresponding lower ones. The tiger is shown as her vahana. A painted figure of the Yaksi with the label Sri Siddhayika Sasanadevata found on a cloth painting of Varddhamana-VidyaPata, assignable to c. fifteenth century, published by U.P. Shah.? Yellow in complexion, Siddhayika holds the lotus-stalk with her right lower hand, and shows the varada mudra with the right upper one. Her left upper hand carries the goad while the lower one, partly defaced, shows the pravacana mudra. A miniature drawing of her lion vehicle is visible below her right foot tucked up. The goddess sits in the lalitasana on a big cushion. SIDDHAYIKA (DIG.) 1. Two-Armed Variety Colour Vahana Lion No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Symbols R.-varada. L.-book R.-abhaya. L.-book R.-abhaya. L.-varada (?) R.-sword. L.-shield R.-abhaya. L.-citron R.-lotus L.-citron Golden Golden Golden Lion Lion Lion

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Yaksini of the Twenty-Fourth Jina 259 Vahana No. 1. SIDDHAYIKA (DIG.) 2. Four-Armed Variety Symbols Colour r.u, goad. l.u.-noose r.l. - (abhaya) l.l. -citron (?) (or pot?) r. u. -lotus l.u. -axe r.l. -flower 1.1.-citron rila 2. No. 1. 3. Twelve-Armed Variety Symbols Colour Vahana sword, shield, flower, arrow, bow, noose, disc, staff, varada, nilotpala, abhaya. 1st pair-cakra, conch, 2nd pair-goad, noose. 3rd pair-arrow, bow, 4th pair-sword, shield 5th pair-nilotpala, lotus. 6th pair-rosary, varada. 4. Twenty-Armed Variety R. hands-varada, spear, rosary, arrow, staff, hammer, hala, vajra, disc, -sword. L. hands-jar, book, citron, lotus, bell (?), bow, noose, shield, etc. KAMACANDALI (DIG.) Four-Armed Variety Symbols Colour fruit, staff, jar, damaru - -Dark Vahana No. 1.

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260 Lord Mahavira Siddhayika, Aparajita and Kamacandalini (Digambara) The yaksini of Varddhamana is known variously as Siddhayika Aparajita or Kamacandali in the Digambara traditions. Of these, the first is the most popular designation while the other two are well-nigh forgotten. The yaksi is called Kamacandali in only work, namely, the Vidyanusasana. Puspadanta in his Mahapurana.8 Addresses her as Siddhayini, but does not detail her iconographic symbols. The goddess is found worshipped in two principal varieties of form-the two-armed and the twelve-armed. As Kamacanddali, she is described as having four arms. Aparajita Of the two-armed forms of the yaksi of Mahavira, the form known as Aparajita requires to be differentiated from the other twoarmed forms when she is called Siddhayika. Firstly, Aparajita represents the oldest known form of the yaksi of Mahavtra. Secondly, Aparajita seems to represent a wholly different tradition and is not a variety of Siddhayika. Though no dhyana for Aparajita is forthcoming, the Jaina temple no. 12 at Deogadh furnishes an interesting form of the goddess. The slab representing Aparajita has the label "Varddhamanasa" on one side and "Aparajita" below the figure of the yaksi. Thus, in earlier Digambara traditions, the yaksi of Varddhamana was known as Aparajita and not as Siddhayika. It should also be remembered that the group of yaksinis found in this temple represents perhaps the oldest known labelled Digambara set hitherto discovered in North India; the seven yaksis in the Orissan Navamuni Cave probably date from the ninth century but unfortunately they are not labelled. In Devgadh temple 12, Aparajita is represented standing with her right hand in the kataka pose and the left one carrying the fly-whisk. Curiously enough, we find Aparajita in the list of the Jaya group discussed elsewhere by us. 10 The four goddesses Jaya, Vijaya, and Aparajita of the group are invoked in the famous Varddhamana-Vidya," a Tantric charm related to the worship of Varddhamana as its name would suggest. The antiquity of the Varddhamana-Vidya is attested by the Mahanisitha sutra and by the tradition that it was first composed by Gautama swami, the first disciple of Mahavira.2 No wonder, therefore, if Aparajita obtained the first chance of being the yaksini of Varddhamana. It

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Yaksini of the Twenty-Fourth Jina 261 will also be advisable to take as an independent deity and not a variety of Siddhayika. We have no evidence to ascertain whether the Aparajita of Mahavira's age had the same form as that on Devgadh temple no. 12 or not. Siddhayika (Two-Armed Variety) Vasunandi says that Siddhayika is golden in complexion and has two arms showing the varada and book. The yaksi sits on the bhadrasana. 13 Asadhara pandita gives the same form and adds that the goddess rides on the lion. 14 The Partisthatilaka15 specifies that the book is held in the left hand while the varada mudra is known by the right one. The Aparajitaprccha16 gives the abhaya for varada in the above tradition. According to the Canerese dhyana slokas, the yaksi shows the abhaya mudra with the right hand while the left one is held open with the fingures hanging down and the palm-upwards (varada mudra?) The swan is her vehicle. 17 In the Seattle Art Museum (U.S.A.) is a beautiful, almost completely preserved stone sculpture depicting 24 Tirthankaras in all with Mahavira in the centre. The lion cognizance of Mahavira is on the lowermost part of the pedestal. The yaksi on the left end of the simbasana is here two-armed showing the sword in her right hand and the shield in the left. Her vahana is not shown. The sculpture, probably from Madhya Pradesh dates from C. 10th11th cent. A.D. Amongst the mutilated Jaina sculpture that were collected and/or near the pitha of the Digambara Jaina Maladevi shrine at Gyaraspur (in the old Gwalior state) Madhya Pradesh, is preserved a mutilated sculpture of Mahavira with the only hands and the legs crossed in padmasana remaining and the upper parts lost. The Jina is sitting on a visva-padma resting on a simhasana with the dharmacakra in the centre and lion on each side of the wheel. Another figure of a lion, half seen above the wheel represents the cognizance of Mahavira. On the right side of the simhasana, is a two-armed pot-bellied yaksa, possibly called Sarvanubhuti, while on the left is the yaksi Siddhayike with her left foot tucked up. Twoarmed, she shows the abhaya mudra with her right hand and carries the citron in the left one. Fig. 8 represents the above mutilated sculpture of Mahavira, reproduced from negative no.

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262 Lord Mahavira 16/93 of the Department of Archaeology of the old Gwalior State, the sculpture seems to date from C. tenth century A.D. The two-armed variety of Siddayini images seems to have been quite popular in Southern India. A sculpture of a standing Jina, identified as Mahavira due to the miniature figure of his lion-cognizance carved on the pedestal is preserved, in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. The yaksa and the yaksi, shown on two sides near the legs of the Jina, are in a standing pose. Both are two-armed. The yaksi holds the book in her left lower hand, while the symbol of her right hand is not distinct. In the ceiling of the Santinatha Basti, Kambadahalli, Mandya distict, Mysore State, is a beautiful central panel, carved in bold relief, showing Mahavira sitting on a simhasana with his lion cognizance shown in the centre and attended by four fly-whisk bearers and flying demi-gods. To the right of the throne is the Matanga-yaksa on an elephant, while the yaksi Siddhayini, sitting in the lalita pose on her lion-mount is shown on the left end. The goddess is two-armed and carries the lotus in her right hand while her left hand holds the citron. She wears a crown and several ornaments. The beautiful sculpture, carved in fine minute detail, is an interesting specimen of Gangavadi style of C. 1130 A.D. Another beautiful sculpture also hails from Kambadahalli, Pancakuta Basti. On the big ornate crown of the goddess is a miniature of Mahavira. The goddess sits on a pedestal in front of which is shown her lion vehicle with two figures riding on it. It would seem that these two are the sons of Ambika-yaksi and that the sculpture represents the yaksini Ambika. But here the goddess does not sit under a mango tree (which is invariably shown in reliefs of Ambika) and hence it might be better to identify her tentatively as Siddhayini holding the citron in her left hand. The upper part of the symbol held in her right hand is mutilated. This was either a book (palm-leaf ms.) or a fly-whisk. Boldly conceived and carved with every mintue detail of her costly heavy ornaments and a lower garment with numerous folds, the sculpture shows Cola influence and perhaps dates from the eleventh century. P. B. Desai18 has referred to a two-armed goddess carved on a rock surface at Anaimalai Hill near Madura. She carries the

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Yaksini of the Twenty-Fourth Jina 263 fruit in her right hand while the left hand rests on her lap. The goddess is shown sitting in the lalita-asana. P. B. Desai identifies her as Siddhayika. P. B. Desai has also described a rock-cut relief of a goddess riding on a lion found at Settipodava near Kilakkudi, Madurai district. 19 The devi "holds a drawn bow in the right hand and arrwo in the left, the other two hands also bearing weapons. The lion has grappled an elephant ridden by a male warrior with sword and shield in his hands." The goddess is identified by Desai as Siddhayini, "on account of her characteristic association with the lion." He further adds that "the sculpture probably portrays a familiar episode connected with her exploits." Since this "familiar episode" is not described, nor its source referred to, it would be safer to regard this identification as tentative. Siddhayika (Four-Armed Variety). (Digambara) A fourd-armed form of the yaksini of Mahavira is obtained in the big bas-relief sculpture of Mahavira from the Jaina Cave at Badami. H.D. Sankalia (B.D.C.R.I, March 1940, Fig. 2, p. 161) describes her as carrying in the upper right hand a weapon which cannot be identified while her lower right hand the abhaya mudra and the upper left one carries a weapon with an ovalish hollow head. On the seat is carved in low relief a bird identified by Sankalia as a swan, but it seems to be of doubtful identification. Sankalia's identification of the symbols deserves correction. The right upper hand clearly shows the goad with the top end of the handle partly broken, the left upper hand holds the noose. The right lower hand, partly mutilated, night have shown the abhaya. The left lower holds the citron or pot. The vahana is not clear. The goddess sits under the shade of a tree, which looks like a mango tree. The form is unknown to available Digambara texts, but looking to the probable age of the cave, it represents a now lost Jaina tradition in Karnataka. This and some other reliefs in this cave seem to be some what later carvings than the Jaina Cave itself which latter is not much later than the Vaisnava cave near it, containing an inscription of Mangalisa. It may also be remembered that two armed variety according to the canarese dhyana slokas

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Lord Mahavira prescribes the swan vehicle for Siddhayika. The swan vehicle reminds one of Sarasvati and the iconography of the goddess Siddhayika in both the Svetambara and the Digambara traditions show her association with one or more symbols connected with a form of Sarasvati. Thus the book according to Vasunandi and Asadhara, or the vina in the Svetambara tradition may be noted. The lion is also a vehicle of Sarasvati represented as Vagdevi in the Brahmanical pantheon. 264 May be remebered that we have no evidence to find out by what name the Badami figure of the yaksi of Mahavira was known. She may tentatively be addressed as Siddhayika. Douglas Barrett has described a. c. ninth century bronze of Mahavira, worshipped in a shrine at Karanja in the Akola district, which shows a fourarmed Yaksi Siddhayika who "carries an axe and a lotus in her upper left and right hands, and a citron and a flower (?) in her lower" hands.20 The bronze probably hailed from Karnataka as can be inferred from a bronze in Nahara's collection, in similar style and having an inscription on its back.21 Siddhayika (Dig. Twelve-Armed Variety) The title-less-palm-leaf manuscript from Jina-Kanchi gives a twelve-armed form showing the sword, the shield, the flower, the arrow, the bow, the noose, the disc, the staff, the varada pose, the blue water-lily, and the abhaya-mudra. The eagle is her vahana.22 A twelve-armed figure of the goddess is reproduced by Ramacandran, from a temple in Jina-Kanchi. The goddess here stands on a lotus and shows in the first row of two hands, the cakra and the conch. In the second pair are found the goad and the noose, in the third, the arrow and the bow, in the fourth, the sword and the shield, in the fifth, the blue water-lily and the lotus and in the last or the bottom row the rosary and the varada.23 Siddhay:!: (Dig. Twenty-Armed Variety) The seven yaksinis in the Navamuni Cave, Khandagiri, Orissa, date from c. ninth century A.D., as stated above, but these figures do not include any representation of Siddhayika. However, in the Bharabhuji Cave near the Navamuni, are found complete sets of all the 24 Tirthankaras and the 24 Sasanadevis. But these figures stylistically seem to be of a later date, of about eleventh or twelfth

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Yaksini of the Twenty-Fourth Jina 265 century A.D. Here, Siddhayika, the yaksini of Mahavira is represented as twenty-armed. She shows, in her right hands, the varada mudra, spear, rosary, arrow, small staff (?), hammer, hala, vajra, disc and sword. Of the attributes in her left hands, a water-jar, book, citron(?), lotus, bell (?), bow, nagapasa and shield are identifiable.24 Kamacandalini (Four-Armed Variety) The Digambara Tantric text Vidyanusasana tells us that Kamacandalini an another name of Siddhayika, the yaksini of Varddhamana. The text gives a full sadhana with the mulamantra and the yantra. According to it, Kamacandalini has four arms. Naked, she moves with her hair untied and her person bedrocked with ornaments. Dark in appearance, she bears in her four hands the fruit, the golden jar, the staff of salmali (Bombay Malabericum), and the damaru.25 The form is of a late origin and representation of Kamacandalini are still unknown. SIDDHAYIKA (SVE.) 1. Four-Armed Variety Vahana No. 1. 2. 3. Lion Lion Symbols Colour right-book, abhaya; left-vina, citron Green right-book, abhaya; left-arrow, citron Green right-book, abhaya; left-noose, lotus Green r.u. book, l.u.-vina; r.l. varada, 1.1.-X r.u. book, I.u.-vina; r.l. abhaya, 1.1.-citron. r.n.-varada l.u.-goad r.e. lotus stalk 1.1.pravacana (?) Lion Lion (tiger?) Lion (?) APARAJITA (DIG.) 1. Four-Armed Variety Symbols Colour Vahana R.-kataka, L.fly-whisk - - No. 1.

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266 Lord Mahavira 1. Cf. jinasya mUrtayo'nantAH pUjitAH srvsaukhydaaH| catamro'tizayairyuktAstAsAM pUjyA vizeSataH / / 25 / / zrI AdinAtho nemizca pArtho viirshcturthkH| cakrezcaryambikA padmAvatI siddhAyiketi ca / / 26 / / -Rupamandana, 6. 25-26, p. 45. 2. Shah U.P., Supernatural Beings in the Jaina Tantras, Acarya Dhruva Commemoration Volume, III. pp, 67 ff. 3. Cf. siddhAyikA tathotpannA siMhayAnA hricchviH| samAtuliGgavallakyau vAmabAhU ca bibhrti|| pustakAbhayadau cobhau dadhAnA dakSiNI bhujau| abhUtAM te prabhornityAsanne shaasndevte|| Trisastisalakapurusacarita, X. 5,112-113 pravacanasaroddhara Tika I, p. 95; Mantradhira-ja-Kalpa, 3. 66, p. 250, calls her Siddharthika. 4. Cf. tattIrthotpannAM siddhayikA haritavarNA siMhavAhanAM caturbhujAM pustakAbhayayutadakSiNakarAM mAtuliGgabANAnvitavAmakarAM ceti|| -Nirvanakalika, p. 37 5. sidvAyikA nIlavarNA siMhArUDhA cturbhujaa| pustakaM cAbhayaM caiva bANaM syaanmaatulinggkm|| __-Devatan urtiprakarana, 7. 65, p. 142; Rupanandana, 6.23, p. 45. 6. siMhasthA haritAMgarUgbhujacatuSkena prabhAvorjitA nityaM dhArita pustkaabhylsdvaamaanypaannidvyaa| pAzAmbhoruharAjivAmakarabhAk siddhAyikA siddhidA zrIsaGgasya karotu vighnaharaNaM devArcane sNshritaa|| -Acara Dinakara, II. p. 173, v. 24. 7. Shah, U.P., Varddhamana-Vidya-Pata, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Vol. IX, pp. 42 ff. 8. Mahapurana, Vol.1, 1.10. 1-15. 9. Known from Archaelogical evidence, shown below. 10. Shah, U.P., Jaya Group of Coddess, Vijaya-Vallabha-Suri-Smaraka Grantha, pp. 124-127. 11. Varddhamana-Vidya-Pata, JISOA Vol. IX (1-41) pp. 42 ff. For texts of Simhati laka-suri's Varddhamana-Vidya-kalpa, and two others of unknown authorship, see, Surimantrakalpasandaha, app. pp. 1-28. 12. Comparative and Critical Study of Mantrasastra, p. 159, 185 ff; The Mahanisitha, adh. 3. uddesa 11 gives this Vidya. It is also given at the end of adh. 8, after the colophon. 13. siddhAyikA tathA devI dvibhujA knkprbhaa|| varadA pustakaM dhatte subhdraasnmaashritaa| -Pratisthasarasmgraha, 5-66-67 14. Pratisthasarodhara, p. 73. b. 178.

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Yaksini of the Twenty-Fourth Jina 267 15. Cf. bibharti yA pustakamiSTadAnaM savyApasavyena krdvyen| bhadrAsanAmAzritavarddhamAnAM siddhAyikAM siddhikarI yjetaam|| - Pratisthatilaka, 7-24, p. 348 16. Cf. dvibhujA kanakAbhA ca pustakaM cAbhayaM tthaa| siddhAyikA tu kartavyA bhdraasnsmnvitaa|| -Aparajitaprchha, 221, 33, p. 568 17. Ramacandran, T.N. Tiruparuttikunram and its temples, p. 211. 18. Desai, P. B., Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs, p. 56. For inscriptions nearby see, Aun. Rep. on South Indian Epigraphy, 1906, Appendix C. nos. 67.74. 19. Desai P B., op. cit. pp.58-59. 20. Barrett, Douglas, A Jain Bronze from The Deccan, Oriental Art (N.S.), Vol. V, No. 4 (1959), pp. 162-165. 21. The Nahara collection bronze was published in Jaina Sahitya no Samksipta Itihasa (in Gujarati), by M.D. Desai. 22. Ramachandran, op. cit., p. 211. 23. Ibid, p. 212.pl. xxxiv fig. 3. 24. Mitra, Debala, Sasanadevis in The Khandagiri Caves, Journal of the Asiatic Society (Calcutta), New Series, Vol. I (1959), No. 2.. pp. 127-133 and plates. 25. varddhamAnajinendrasya yakSI siddhAyikA mtaa| taddevyaparanAmnA ca kaamcnnddaalisNjnykaa|| bhUSitAbharaNaiH sarvermuktakezA digmbrii| pAtu mAM kAmacaNDAlI kRSNavarNA cturbhujaa|| phalakAMcanakalazakarA shaalmlidnnddoccddmruyugmopettaa| japata (?) stribhuvanavaMdyA vazyA jagati shriikaamcNddaalii)|| Vidyanusasana (MSS., Bombay, Ailaka Pannalal Dig. Jaina Bhandara), Folios 40-41.

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18 THE FORDMAKERS* -Paul Dundas According to tradition, the great Shvetambara scholar-monk Haribhadra was in his early years a learned brahman who boasted that he would become the pupil of anyone whose teachings he could not controvert. One day he heard a Jain nun called Yakini reciting a verse which to his astonishment he could not understand. On being questioned she directed Haribhadra to her teacher who instructed him in the basics of Jain doctrine and converted him. Haribhadra's bemusement is understandable. The verse Yakini is supposed to have recited relates to a specifically Jain version of the legendary history of the world known as the 'Deeds of the Sixty-three Illustrious Men', or, as it is called by western scholars, the Universal History, which provides a description on a massive scale of the destinies, enacted over a vast period of time, of the twenty-four Jain teachers, the fordmakers, and their contemporaries.? Haribhadra would on studying the Universal History have found amongst other surprises that the supposedly enternal and authorless Hindu scripture, the Veda, had in fact been created by Bharata, the first Jain universal emperor of this world-era, and that two of the central focuses of Hindu religious devotion, Rama and Krishna, were themselves Jain laymen. Jainism is believed by its followers to be everlasting, without beginning or end, the Universal History descrining just one tiny portion of an eternal process. For those approaching Jainism from outside its tradition, there is of course another type of Jain history, reconstructed by scholars from the mass of literature, monastic chronicles and inscriptions, often full of gaps and vague in chronology. While a historian of the Jains will inevitably draw on such material, it must also be borne in mind that Jainism structures its own sense * Paul Dundas, The Jains, Routledge, London, 1992.

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The Fordmakers 269 of history within a different temporal context. An early source records a prophecy that the tirtha, the community which puts the Jain doctrine into practice, will outlast Mahavira, the last of the omniscient fordmakers, by 21,000 years, during which time the religion will go into a decline, to be reawakened only during the course of the next world era (Bh 20.8).3 The Jains share with the Hindus the notion of the Kaliyuga, the Corrupt Age, which for them involves a gradual diminishment of culture, religion and eventually even human stature. This age, in which we are living now, has been continually invoked by Jain writers from the early medieval period and provides an overarching principle with reference to which the tradition can explain the course of its own immediate fortunes after the death of Mahavira, that is, in the concluding part of the Universal History, as involving a continual tension between decline and attempted reform. The Vedic Background Jainism emerged, along with Buddhism, towards the end of a time of great social transformation in north India which is usually called the Vedic period, after the Veda, the body of literature which in the absence of any large-scale archaeological evidence, forms our main source for this epoch. As Gombrich has provided in his volume on Theravada Buddhism in this series an authoritative account of Vedic India, it will not be necessary to repeat his conclusions in any detail.4 I will, however, give a brief outline of those aspects of this period which have most bearing upon early Jainism. It has become customary for scholars to interpret the Vedic period as developing in a simple linear fashion. Thus, an original nomadic or pastoral life followed from approximately the fifteenth to the tenth centuries BCE by the Aryans, the speakers of the earliest form of that language which was to be called Sanskrit, is usually stated to have been succeeded by the appearance of a more settled, agriculturally oriented mode of life from about the tenth to the sixth centuries BCE, this being followed in turn, through the generation of significant economic surpluses and the concomitant emergence of new forms of technology such as writing and iron, by urbanisation and the gradual appearance of state formations of varying size. Conveniently enough for scholarship, the literature of this

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270 Lord Mahavira period has generally been interpreted as being composed in conformity to a similar chronologically linear model. This view would see the earliest texts, the Rigveda, hymns of praise and requests directed towards the gods of the Vedic pantheon, along with associated liturgical material, being followed by the Brahmanas, huge compilations concentrating in the main on the theory of the sacrifice as the main creative force in the universe. These were in turn succeeded by the Aranyakas, the esoteric 'Forest Books' and the famous Upanishads which attempted through mystical speculation to convey the relation between man's innermost spiritual being and the universe as a whole. The reality was in fact much more complex than such simple linearity of interpretation would suggest. Pastoralism and settled agriculture, for example, must in actuality have functioned together in tandem for some considerable time, while the Upanishads do not simply represent a more spiritual advance on the Brahmanas but are permeated with the ideology and symbols of the sacrificial ritual. Moreover, the beginning of large-scale urbanisation was in the main located in the east of India, originally regarded by Vedic literature as a marginal and impure region, rather than the western areas which represented the heartland of Vedic culture. Nonetheless, it was both the change attendant upon the shift away from less organised forms of economic life and the influence of Vedic ideology which provided the social and intellectual backdrop against which the two great easterners. Mahavira and his contemporary, the Buddha, moved. The dominant mode of conceptualising the world in north India by the sixth century BCE was the product of the elaborate speculation conducted by members of the learned brahman class into the nature and function of ritual. The Vedic sacrifice, which usually but by no means always involved the killing of animals, was composed of a variety of elements which might be expected to occur in any extended form of ritual activity: priestly specialists, praise of divinities, the making of offerings, requests for divine favours, sacred language, sanctified space in which the rites are conducted and so on. More uniquely, the sacrifice was also regarded as providing the context for consideration of the nature of man's position in the universe. In the Brahmanas, the theorists of the sacrifice present ritual as a means of perpetuating life,

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The Fordmakers 271 specifically that of the individual who sponsors the performance of the sacrifice, and as a profoundly creative force. The sacrifice came to be seen as implicated in the emergence of both the universe and the individual himself and the Brahmanas demonstrate at length the inter-relatedness of the various parts of the ritual and the cosmos. Two generalised ideas which were to be central for Indian religions resulted from these speculations. The first of these is the world of continuity and rebirth (samsara), an extension of the idea that the sacrifice could extend existence over more than one lifetime. The second idea is generally known as karma, a concept which developed from an original specifically ritual context in which a correctly performed sacrificial action (karman) resulted in birth and continued life in the next world to the generally held belief that any action of whatever quality generated rebirth as a consequence. In the Upanishads, there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jain teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.5 The Jains, along with the Buddhists, accepted the ideas of karma and rebirth as representing basic facts of human experience, taken for granted in the earliest scriptures with no need being felt to justify their validity. That is not to say that the Jains subscribed to the cult of animal sacrifice itself, for they have always espoused as a central and necessary moral tenet the principle of ahimsa, 'non-violence' to all creatures and, indeed, they have contended that even the performance of a sacrifice with an inanimate surrogate is wrong, as in the famous story of Yashodhara who went to hell because of his innately violent mental disposition, despite having offered to a goddess merely a cockerel made of dough." Nonetheless, the Jains were also cognisant of the potency of sacrifice as a cultural symbol and sought to reinterpret both Vedic ritual and the brahman sacrificer who manipulated it in their own ethical terms. One of the most venerated Shvetambara scriptures describes how Harikesha, a Jain monk of untouchable origins, approached in silence some brahmans who were performing a sacrifice in order to get alms. On being violently attacked by them, he was saved by a tree-spirit who intervened

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272 Lord Mahavira on his behalf. The climax of the episode is Harikesha's explanation to the brahmans of the nature of the true, internal sacrifice of the Jain monk: Austerity is my sacrificial fire, my life is the place where the fire is kindled. Mental and physical efforts are my ladle for the oblation and my body is the dung fuel for the fire, my actions my firewood. I offer up an oblation praised by the wise seers consisting of my restraint, effort and calm. (Utts 12.44-5) Harikesha's innate purity has nothing to do with birth or ritual purity but comes about through his celibacy and steadfastness in Jain principles. The heat (tapas) of the sacrificial fire is insignificant compared to the heat generated by the austerity (tapas) which remoulds life and destiny. Spiritual authority is in this context vested not in the ritual technician but in that individual who performs the morally correct action, the Jain monk. Going Forth: The Institution of World Renunciation If, as it came to be believed, freedom from action, initially taken as ritual performance and then extended to include social action, was the means of escaping from the continuity of rebirth, how was such an actionless state to be achieved? The answer was that the individual had to cast off the bonds of the householder's life, the world of the cooking and sacrificial fires, and enter the life of homelessness by becoming a renouncer, a wandering mendicant who could not grow, cook or buy his own food but instead subsisted on alms. The term shramana, 'striver', used of Manavira and other renouncers to distinguish them from the brahmans, points to the physical and speculative exertion which was necessarily entailed in a life devoted to the minimising of the performance of external action and an accompanying control of inner activity. It may well be that this 'going forth' (praurajya) from home, an institution which was to be so productive for Indian religious life and thought, was given impetus by the changes which Indian society was undergoing from around the eighth century BCE and that the growth of communities of renouncers with their evolving doctrines and codes of conduct was a response to the breakdown of old social values in the face of aggressive new state formations

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The Fordmakers and altered modes of social interaction anu authority. However, while the Shvetambara scriptural text, the 'Exposition of Explanations', does preserve a memory of this period in a description couched in mythical terms of two conflicts called 'The War of the Big Stones' and 'The War of the Chariot and the Mace' in which the famous sixth century BCE king of Magadha, Kunika (called by the Buddhists Ajatashatru) destroyed a confederation of smaller kingdoms and tribes (Bh 7.9), early Jain literature shows very little interest in contemporary political circumstances and the question of some kind of psychological malice or sense of anomie as constituting an influence on those who went forth to become mendicant renouncers can only remain hypothetical. 273 Nonetheless, there is no doubt that one of the most noteworthy features of world renunciation was its construction of alternative forms of social groupings akin to those of the world which had been left behind. Terms employed in Jainism and Buddhism to describe groups of ascetics such as gana, 'troop' and sangha, 'assembly' are used in early Vedic texts to refer to the warrior brotherhoods, the young men's bands which were a feature of Aryan nomadic life, and the stress found in the old codes of monastic law on requirements of youth, physical fitness and good birth for Jain and Buddhist monks, along with the frequent martial imagery of Jainism and its repeated stress on the crushing of spiritual enemies, may point to a degree of continuity with these earlier types of warrior. Certainly it is noteworthy that both Mahavira and the Buddha were members of the warrior caste.8 While the most ancient ideal of Jainism, as represented in Mahavira's early asceti career, was isolation and solitude, going forth did not mean entry into an anarchic, unstructured world but rather entailed joining a new form of society with its own rules, internal relationships and groupings which in many respects replicated those of the social word which had been abandoned. The only major difference was the necessity for ascetic society to reproduce itself by means of recruitment and initiation since there was a necessary obligation for all renouncers to abandon sexual activity. One of the most frequently used terms up to about the tenth century CE to describe a Shvetambara monastic group was kula, 'family'.

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Lord Mahavira 274 The 'Sayings of The Seers' Jainism, then, was in origin merely one component of a north Indian ascetic culture which flourished in the Ganges basin around the sixth century BCE. Many individual participants within this culture had attained a marked degree of fame at this time, acknowledged by Jains and Buddhists alike, because of their supposed attainment of some form of knowledge or enlightenment, 10 and one early text provides particularly valuable evidence of how an attempt was made by the Jains to establish some sort of accommodation with non-Jain ascetics, both contemporary and ancient. The 'Saying of the Seers' (IBh) is seldom referred to in studies on Jainism not only because it is often difficult to understand but because its status and purpose are unclear. It contains a series of statements attributed to a variety of rishis or seers (the term in origin referred to a composer of a Vedic hymn), some familiar from other sources, others almost totally obscure, but all clearly regarded as in some way significant and authoritative in their own right. Unquestionably the 'Sayings' is one of the most ancient Jain texts available although, with a very provisional dating to the fourth BCE, it probably cannot be assigned to the very oldest stratum of the literature. Never completely forgotten, it seems nonetheless to have fallen at a fairly early date into a partial obscurity, with very few manuscripts of it being copied and no classical commentary on it being composed. The subject matter of the 'Sayings' must have been the reason for this, for it juxtaposes Mahavira along with Parshva, regarded as the formers predecessor as fordmaker, on equal terms with figures from traditions which were to be regarded as Jainism's rivals, such as the Buddha's close disciples Shariputra and Mahakashyapa (the Buddha himself does not appear), various individuals from a brahmanical background such as Yajnavalkya, one of the preeminent teachers of the Upanishads, and even Makkhali Gosala whom later Jain writers were to see as the archenemy of Mahavira. Mahavira's teachings are presented, under his given name of Vardhamana, at no great length and in no privileged manner. Suppression of the senses is given as the central tenet of his doctrine, sacrificial imagery being used to convey this: 'he who

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The Fordmakers 275 conquers the mind and the passions and performs austerity correctly, shines with pure soul like a fire in which the oblation has been poured' (IBh 29.17). It is not Mahavira but the mysterious figure of Narada, who in classical Hinduism was to assume the role of a semi-divine intermediary between gods and men and whom the Jain Universal History linked with disproof of the efficacy of sacrifice, who is credited at the beginning of the 'Sayings' with enunciating the central teaching of the importance of non-violence in body, speech and mind (IBh 1). The 'Sayings' also contain what would have been to the Jains antipathetical cosmological views such as those of the wandering mendicant (parivrajaka) Giri who is associated with two claims, that the world and all life came about through a heated egg germinating in the cosmic waters and that the world was the product of the sacrifice, statements which are then followed somewhat uneasily with an enunciation of the standard Jain view of the eternality of the universe (IBh 37). Particularly interesting is the section of the 'Sayings' which describes how the brahman mendicant Ambada is instructed that mere renunciation of the world is insufficient and that it requires to be put into the framework of correct Jain behaviour (IBh 25). In another later Shvetambara scriptural text, Ambada is described as the leader of a band of ascetics who resolve on suicide because they cannot find anybody to give them alms. Before dying 'ne ascetics pay homage both to Ambada and Mahavira and arc reborn as gods. Mahavira praises Ambada but emphasises that, despite his great qualities, it is impossible for him to become a Jain monk because his behaviour only approximates to the necessary requirements (Aup pp. 230-50). This Jainising of a variety of ascetic figures and their doctrines as evinced in the 'Sayings of the Seers' was an attempt by early Jainism to legitimise its own teachings by associating, without fully identifying, them with those whom the common tradition of the Ganges basin had come to regard as unquestionably great and enlightened men of the past. The Fordmakers And The Ford In western-style histories of religions, Mahavira is generally treated as being the founder of Jainism in the same way as Jesus

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276 Lord Mahavira is regarded as the founder of Christianity. For the Jains, however, Mahavira is merely one of a chain of teachers who all communicate the same truth in broadly similar ways and his biography, rather than being discrete, has to be treated as part of the larger totality of the Universal History and as meshing, through the continuing dynamic of rebirth, with the lives of other participants within it. Not until the ninth century CE is there found a biography of Mahavira, written by the Sanskrit poet Asaga, which treats his career without reference-to the other fordmakers. Nonetheless, since the historicity of Mahavira and his predecessor Parshva alone of all the fordmakers is not in question, and since it is the accounts of the life of Mahavira which are the most amenable to analysis, this chapter will focus upon the last fordmaker and associate the teachings of early Jainism with him. Firstly, though, I will contextualise Mahavira's life by giving a broad and brief account of the rhythm of the current movement of time as described in the Universal History. Eras of time are conventionally represented in Jainism as being a continual series of downward and upward motions of a wheel, called respectively avasarpini and utsarpini. An avasarpini is divided into six spokes or ages, the first three representing a golden age which inaugurates a gradual process of degeneration leading to the Fifth spoke, the duhshama or 'uneven' age, otherwise known as the Kaliyuga as we have already seen, followed by the sixth and final spoke when the Jain doctrine dies out, whereupon the utsarpini commences with the spokes in reverse order. While this process is beginningless and endless, the Universal History is in effect only concerned with this current avasarpini and that small area of the universe where human life is enacted. 11 No god is implicated in these spontaneous temporal movements, either in a creative or an overseeing role, and human beings and other creatures are repeatedly reborn under the impulse of their own actions. During each motion of the wheel, twenty-four teachers, the fordmakers (tirthankara), appear in succession who activate the Three Jewels, the uncreated Jain teachings of right faith, right knowledge and right practice, and who found a community of ascetic and lay followers which serves as a spiritual ford (tirtha) for human beings over the ocean of rebirth. The pattern of the

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The Fordmakers 277 careers of these fordmakers is essentially identical. Always born into a family of the warrior class, they are generally awakened by the gods (in Jainism, beings who are subject like humans to the laws of rebirth but who cannot attain enlightenment in their divine state) to their destinies as great spiritual teachers and then renounce the world of the householder to become wandering mendicants. After an obligatory period in the practice of physical and mental austerities, facilitated by their uniquely powerful physical structure, to burn away the karma they have accumulated over innumerable existences, they attain the enlightenment which the Jains define as full omniscience. Finally, having engaged in a period of preaching and conversion, they die in meditation and their souls, freed from their bodies, travel to the top of the universe to abide in a state of bliss and pure consciousness along with the other liberated souls. One important way in which the fordmakers are differentiated from each other is in their physical dimensions and length of life. 12 At the outset of the avasarpini they are massive in size and live for near incalculable periods of time. However, as the spokes of the wheel descend, the intervals between the fordmakers decrease, and their size and duration of life diminish until finally the twenty-third fordmaker Parshva (who traditionally lived for a hundred years) is separated from his successor Mahavira by only two hundred and fifty years and their size and duration of life are of near-normal human dimensions. As the first fordmaker, Rishabha is inevitably allotted a great deal of space in the Universal History. He was born not as would be expected at the beginning of the avasarpini but near the end of the third spoke. Up to this point the needs of human beings had been satisfied by miraculous wishing trees but, as the efficacy of these decreased, society became unstructured and incapable of self-maintenance. One of Rishabha's roles prior to his renunciation of the world was the patriarchal one of inculcating social skills such as the preparation of food, the kindling of fire, agriculture, writing, marriage, an organised system of society and so on. The nature of the vital institution of giving (dana), whereby a layman gives alms to an ascetic and through that action gains merit, was articulated for the first time when a king, Shreyamsa, poured sugarcane juice into Rishabha's cupped hands to break the

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278 Lord Mahavira fordmaker's first fast as a renouncer. Rishabha can thus be viewed as unique among the fordmakers in that he is not just a spiritual teacher but a form of culture hero. . None of the other fordmakers have as highly developed biographies as the first and last, although the lives of two of them, Malli (for the Shvetambaras a woman) and Parshva, are distinctive and will be described later. Mahavira is linked by the Universal History to Rishabha through having been born as his heretical grandson Marici. After a succession of rebirths, including those of a hellbeing and a lion, Mahavira completed his penultimate birth in one of the heavens as a god prior to being born as the twentyfourth fordmaker. He was then transporied in embryo form by the general of the army of Indra, the king of the gods, initially to the womb of a brahman woman, a mistake explained by reference to some bad karma which Mahavira had acquired in his birth as Marici. He was then taken to the only womb appropriate for a fordmaker, that of a woman of the warrior caste whose name was Trishala, the wife of a king, Siddhartha. 13 After his birth consecration, carried out by Indra on Mount Meru, the axis of the central cosmic continent of Jambudvipa, he was given the name Vardhamana, 'Increasing', because his family's prosperity increased after his birth. Having led a blameless youth during which he married a princess, Yashoda, who bore him a daughter, on his thirtieth birthday the gods performed the initiation ceremony for him and he renounced the world to become a mendicant ascetic. For twelve and a half years, Mahavira wandered in the region of the Ganges basin, part of which time he spent with another ascetic called Makkhali Gosala, often enduring physical abuse from men and attacks by animals, fasting and meditating all the while, as a result of which heroic mode of life he received the epithet 'Great Hero, (Mahavira) and subsequently, in accordance with the destiny of all fordmakers, he attained enlightenment. He then converted eleven brahmans who were to become the 'leaders of the troop' (ganadhara), the heads of the ascetic order and the basis of the community as a whole. Mahavira died aged seventy-two at the town of Pava in what is now the state of Bihar. His body was cremated, with the gods taking his bones to heaven and his ashes being distributed throughout the Ganges region.

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The Fordmakers 279 This story, drastically truncated here, would in essence be recognisable to all Jains, although the Digambaras reject certain elements of it such as the transfer of Mahavira's embryo and his marriage to Yashoda. In its broadest form, it is located in the versions of the Universal History produced by the Digambara poet Jinasena (ninth century CE) and his pupil Gunabhadra and the Shvetambaras Shilanka (ninth century CE) and Hemacandra (twelfth century CE) who drew upon themes scattered throughout the earlier scriptural tradition which had doubtless also been elaborated orally. When examined critically as a literary phenomenon, the Universal History in its widest extent gives the impression of being a massive introduction to the biography of Mahauira which itself expanded and evolved over a long period of time. We must now consider some of the features of that biography and the manner in which it presents a picture of Mahavira as exemplar of the Jain path. The Sources For Mahavira's Biography An account of the nature and development of the Jain scriptures will be given in Chapter 3, but we may anticipate two points here. Firstly, the Shvetambara sources alone must be relied upon for an understanding of the earliest stages of Mahavira's biography, for the Digambara scriptures provide no significant early evidence. Secondly, the accounts of the Council of Valabhi, which took place in the first half of the fifth century CE and at which the Shvetambara scriptures were supposedly redacted for the final time, provide no help with regard to the dating of the actual sources involved. While we may be reasonably confident about the most important texts redacted at Valabhi, we can only establish a relative chronology for them on the basis of language, metre and the evidence of style. The datings which I adduce for the Shvetambara scriptures are therefore tentative. although deriving from what has become a scholarly consensus. Generally accepted as being the oldest parts of the Shvetambara scriptures are the first books of the first and second 'limbs' (anga) of the canon, called the Acaranga (AS), because it relates to behaviour (acara), and the Sutrakritanga (SKS), probably so named because it describes the doctrines found in the writings (sutra) of those sects whom the Jains regarded as their opponents.

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280 Lord Mahavira Both of these books originated from about the fifth or fourth centuries BCE, although a slightly earlier dating cannot be ruled out, and they represent the most ancient stratum of Jain textual material. The second book of the Acaranga, which is of particular importance since it presents (AS 2.15) Mahavira's life as a totality for the first time, is accepted by the commentators as being later than the first book. It can perhaps be assigned to the second or first centuries BCE and to a second stratum of biographical material, as can the Kalpasutra (KS), whose name relates to the monastic ritual (kalpa) which forms one of its main themes. It is the Kalpasutra which, as well as providing an extended biography of Mahavira, albeit one which concentrates on the events which led up to his birth, for the first time links the last fordmaker with a chain of twenty-three predecessors and gives very short accounts of the lives of three of them, Rishabha, Nemi and Parshva. Still more difficult to date is the voluminous 'Exposition of Explanations' (Vyakhyaprajnapti), usually referred to by Jains as Bhagavati, 'Revered' (Bh). This contains a great deal of disparate material about Mahavira, his career and teachings, disciples and relations with other holy men, especially Makkhali Gosala who is not mentioned in the earlier scriptures. However, this is unquestionably a composite text and it is difficult to be confident about which portions of it are genuinely old and which originated nearer to the Council of Valabhi, although it can provisionally be taken as falling within the second stratum of the biography. The Aupapatika (Aup), which takes its name from the spontaneously born (aupapatika) gods and hellbeings described in the text, can probably, on the grounds of its often highly ornate prose style, be dated to the early centuries of the common era when such a mode of literary diction was emerging in Sanskrit and Prakrit belles-lettres and thus be provisionally located within a third biographical stratum. Most important of all for the literary expansion of Mahavira's biography and for the development of the Universal History as a whole is the commentarial literature which came to cluster around the Avashyakasutra, the canonical text describing the six Obligatory Actions (avashyaka) incumbent upon every ascetic (see Chapter 6). The earliest portions of this material are the Prakrit mnemonic verses (niryukti) which perhaps date from about the second or third century CE, while the Prakrit prose commentary of Jinadasa

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The Fordmakers 281 was written in the seventh century CE. A further expansion of this exegetical literature was provided by Haribhadra. It was the commentators on the Avashyakasutra who organised the raw material for the Universal History, drawing together and expanding it to create an image of the promulgator of the true path with which they could confront the inadequate myths and hagiographies of their sectarian opponents. Mahavira's Date It is fruitless to attempt to locate a historical Mahavira outwith the parameters of the texts which describe him. Even such a basic question as when he lived is not certain. So, while his traditional Shvetambara dating is 599 BCE to 527 BCE, the Digarnbaras hold that he died in 510 BCE. There has been considerable scholarly debate about this matter since the nineteenth century and a variety of different datings have been proposed. The arguments are technical but it should be noted that Mahavira's dates depend in the last resort on synchronicity with those of the Buddha since the two were contemporaries and if, as is increasingly being suggested, a re-examination of early Buddhist historical material, nothing comparable to which exists in Jainism, necessitates a redating of the Buddha, then a shift in Mahavira's dating will also be entailed.14 Equally uncertain is the question of Mahavira's birthplace. The Kalpasutra states that he was born at Kundagrama, a site generally taken as having been in the vicinity of Vaishali, at that time one of the greatest towns of the Ganges basin. The exact location of Kundagrama has remained elusive, however, doubtless because the Jains began to migrate at a relatively early date from the east which subsequently went into economic and political decline for a considerable time so that accurate knowledge of the region where Mahavira had preached was soon at a premium, and there is still disagreement between the Shvetambaras and the Digambaras over this matter. This is in contrast to the general concord between the two sects with regard to the location of Mahavira's death, with the town of Pava mentioned in the Kalpasutra as the place where this event occurred being identified by about the thirteenth century with the village of Pavapur in the state of Bihar.

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282 Lord Mahavira Epithets There is no knowledge of Mahavira's given name Vardhamana in the earliest stratum of the biography and the use of the epithet Mahavira as a personal name, while occurring in the First book of the Sutrakritanga, is unknown in the first book of the Acaranga. Furthermore, the oldest texts never use the term 'fordmaker' and very seldom jina, the word which gives Jainism its name. Instead we find terms such as Nayaputta, 'son of the Nayas', an obscure expression which seems to refer to Mahavira's clan, called in Sanskrit Jnatri, and the name by which he is known in early Buddhist writings, 'ascetic' (muni, samana, niggantha), brahman, 'venerable' (bhagavan) and occasionally araha, 'worthy', a term found frequently in early Buddhism, and veyavi, 'knower of the Veda', which here may just signify 'wise'. The Acaranga does not describe Mahavira as all-knowing but only as all-seeing. 15 However, a eulogy of Mahavira as ideal being, supposedly uttered by one of his disciples, occurs in the Sutrakritanga (SKS 1.6) and provides a remarkable picture of the qualities, principal among which was full omniscience, with which early Jain tradition credited him. Stress is laid on his humanity, freedom from the constraints of life and gaining of full physical and mental restraint. The limitless nature of his attainments, through which he sees and knows everything, 'this world and what lies beyond it' (SKS 1.6.28), renders him the equal of the king of the gods and all the great mountains and oceans of the universe. The confidence which this ancient text expresses in the power of Mahavira's teachings to alter one's next birth for the better has characterised the attitude of Jains towards Mahavira and the other fordmakers to the present day. The Transfer of The Embryo The first references to the transfer of Mahavira's embryo from the womb of a brahman woman called Devananda to that of Trishala, along with a reverse substitution of the embryo which was already in Trishala's womb, occur in the second chapter of the Acaranga and the Kalpasutra, that is to say, not in the oldest stratum of the biography. The reference in the 'Exposition of Explanations' to Mahavira's acknowledgement of Devananda as being his real mother clearly alludes to this aspect of the biography (Bh 9.33).16

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The Fordmakers 283 It is possible to interpret this event in two ways. Firstly, the account in the Kalpasutra would appear to represent an attempt to devalorise the authority of the brahman caste which ranked itself hierarchically above the warrior caste into which all the fordmakers are born. Devananda's husband is depicted as somewhat vaingloriously rejoicing in the fact that his son, after being born, will master the Veda, a type of learning which Jainism rejected as being worthless. Indra, however, assumes control over the destination of the embryo since he knows that fordmakers can never be born into three types of low family, those of the poor, the insignificant or brahmans." Secondly, a comparison with the unusual births associated with hero figures of other religious traditions, such as the Buddha who was born from his mother's thigh or Jesus whose mother was a virgin, might suggest a desire to present Mahavira through his anomalous arrival in his final birth as both human and at the same time transcending the normal mortal state. Mahauira's Asceticism In the fully developed biography of Mahavira, much stress is placed on his pre-enlightenment career as a wandering ascetic, with relatively little being said about events between his enlightenment and his death. The core of this account, and the earliest version of any part of Mahauira's life, occurs in the eighth chapter of the first book of the Acaranga which is known as the Pillow Scripture' (Uvahanasuya) because Mahavira's various religious practices supported him as a pillow does the head. Up to this point the Acaranga had been giving a general description of monastic behaviour and then proceeds to particularise its injunctions with reference to the greatest ascetic of all. This must be taken as part of a larger oral account, for it commences with a reference to Mahauira's refusal to cover himself with 'that garment' (AS 1.8.1.1), an allusion understandable only in the light of the description in later strata of Indra's bestowing a divine robe upon him at the time of renunciation. The 'Pillow Scripture' is concerned not so much with Mahavira's decision to reject the world as with the harshness and mortifying nature of the life which he led as a consequence of this. The violence shown to him by householders as he wandered,

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284 Lord Mahavira attacks by animals and insects, his nakedness and lack of concern about washing, his fasting, disregard for sleep, shelter or contact with other people, all are described as part of a long struggle to shake off the bondage brought about by body and mind and bring about a state of inner control: to abstain, in other words, from action (karman) and win through to spiritual freedom. While it is likely that the 'Pillow Scripture' was composed retrospectively with full awareness of Mahavira's doctrine and the nature of his claim to enlightenment, it should be noted that he is portrayed prior to his enlightenment as being familiar with the fact that earth, water, air, fire and plants are full of life-forms and thai true austerity involved causing them no injury (AS 1.8.1.11-12). Thus, knowledge of the underlying structure of life and a proper attitude towards it are presented in this early text as being the necessary preliminaries to enlightenment rather than its actual content. The basic description of Mahauira's ascetic career was gradually expanded in later strata of the biography. The only specific region mentioned in the 'Pillow Scripture' as having been visited by the fordmaker was Ladha, now west Bengal, a dangerous and probably unaryan country where he was subjected to grievous treatment. An itinerary was subsequently provided for his travels by the Kalpasutra which gives a list of thirteen towns and cities in the Ganges basin where Mahauira passed various rainy seasons and the later strata connect these places with specific events in the biography. At no point in the 'Pillow Scripture and the second stratum of the biography is Mahavira described as being subjected in the course of his ascetic career to any sort of temptation or attack by supernatural forces. This is in contrast to the biography of the Buddha, a central motif of which, apparently deriving from a relatively early date, is his temptation by Mara, the god of death, who attempts to dissuade him forcibly from the attainment of enlightenment. While the Universal History was to introduce entirely new episodes into the biography of Mahauira in which he is attacked by inimical serpents and deities, the emphasis is firmly upon the great hero's forebearance and indifference in the face of difficulty; the issue of his ability to gain enlightenment is never called in question. 18 * A portion of the developed biography which may well be of

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The Fordmakers 285 Buddhist origin, or perhaps derives from some common fund of stories about the trials and tribulations of ascetics, is the episode in which a cowherd asked the meditating Mahovira, who in a previous life had mistreated him, whether he had seen his cows and on not receiving a reply drove blades of grass deep into the cavities of th: ascetic's ears, the removal of which caused him great agony. The earliest reference to this occurs in the mnemonic verse commontary on the Avashyakasutra (AvNiry 525), that is, a text dating from the common era and representing approximately the third or perhaps fourth stratum of the biography, although the elliptical manner in which the theme is referred to implies its earlier existence. A similar incident is described as having befallen the Buddha in one of the oldest sutras of the Pali Canon and it was depicted on several occasions in Buddhist art and literature. 19 The elaborate descriptions found in the Universal History of this particular period of Mahauira's life do not serve merely as a narrative preamble to the account of his enlightenment. There was at an early date abstracted from the textual delineation of his austerities what became a stereotyped list of twenty-two 'endurances' (parishaha), physical and mental afflictions which are regarded as encompassing all the difficulties to which Jain ascetics have always been subjected.20 Every Jain monk and nun, through the hardships of fasting and mendicancy, partly replicates Mahavira's austerities. Mahavira's Relationship With Makkhali Gosala The most remarkable episode in the later descriptions of Mahabira's pre-enlightenment career is his period of fellow mendicancy with Makkhali Gosala who is generally regarded as having been the head of an ascetic order known as the Ajivikas, the 'Followers of the Way of Life'. Although there are references to Makkhali Gosala in the Buddhist Pali Canon, the fullest source which describes his life is the fifteenth chapter of the 'Exposition of Explanations which is undoubtedly an interpolation into the larger text, showing a consistency and internal coherence unusual in that loosely structured work. 21 According to this Jain story, Makkhali Gosala (the latter part of his name signifies that he was born in a gosala or stable) persuaded Mahavira in the second year after his renunciation to

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286 Lord Mahavira accept him as his disciple and the two then wandered together for a period of six years. Makkhali Gosala proved to be an unsatisfactory pupil, both headstrong and jealous of his teacher's ascetic attainments, trying fruitlessly to disprove Mahavira's powers of prescience and on one occasion having to be rescued by the fordmaker from a brahman ascetic whom he had antagonised. The expanded version in the Universal History describes other episodes of this sort. Eventually, according to the 'Exposition of Explanations', Makkhali Gosala, after gaining a degree of magic power from his association with Mahavira, left his teacher and falsely proclaimed himself to be a spiritual conqueror. Furious at Mahavira's refusal to acknowledge his status, he attacked him with a blast of ascetic heat which he released from his body, but such was the adamantine nature of Mahavira's physique that it rebounded back upon Makkhali Gosala who eventually died after confessing that the fordmaker was a true spiritual teacher. Mahavira subsequently predicted that Gosala would eventually attain enlightenment and spiritual release. The Ajivikas were undoubtedly a fully fledged ascetic corporation in their own right with a community of lay supporters and there is evidence that they were still in existence in south India as late as the thirteenth century. However, the precise nature of Makkhali Gosala's doctrine remains unclear. The account of it found in early Buddhist literature credits him with propounding an elaborate if obscure cosmology and of arguing that fate or destiny (niyati) was the central motive force in the universe against which no human effort could have any effect. All later accounts of Ajivika doctrine echo this description. In the absence of any Ajivika writings, any conclusions must remain speculative, but it seems doubtful whether a doctrine which genuinely advocated the lack of efficacy of individual effort could have formed the basis of a renunciatory path to spiritual liberation. An examination of the 'Sayings of the Seers', which counts Makkhali Gosala among the authoritative teachers, suggests that he was in fact simply arguing for the virtue of imperturbability in the face of the continued change and modification which were to be seen in the world (IBH 11). The suspicion must be that the Jains and Buddhists

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The Fordmakers 287 deliberately distorted Ajivika doctrine for their own polemical purposes. Furthermore, it may well be that the developed biography of Mahavira could not easily dispense with Makkhali Gosala from its narrative structure because there was a persistent reminiscence of a genuine historical connection between the two, and there remains the possibility that Mahauira and early Jainism were influenced by the Ajivikas. There are, for example, inconsistencies in Jain karma theory which could be explained with reference to what little is known of Ajivika doctrine.22 Mahavira's Relationship With Parshva In the Kalpasutra there occurs the first description of the life of Parshva, the twenty-third fordmaker, extremely short in extent and probably modelled on that of Mahauira. Parshva is stated to have been born in Benares, to have renounced the world and founded a community of ascetics and lay people and, after a life of one hundred years, to have attained liberation on Mount Sammeta in the Ganges basin two hundred and Fifty years prior to Mahauira. Circumstantial evidence, including a description of his teachings in the 'Sayings of the Seers' (IBh 31), dictates that he must be viewed as a historical figure. While the Kalpasutra does not formally link Parshva to Mahavira placing his biography after that of the last fordmaker, a passing remark in the second chapter of the Acaranga, that is, not in the very earliest stratum of the biography, that Mahauira's parents were followers of Parshva and lay devotees of Jain ascetics (AS 2.15), has led to the general scholarly conclusion that Mahavira must have renounced within Parshva's ascetic lineage. The question of the relationship between the two fordmakers hinges on the fact that Jain tradition holds that Parshva and his ascetic community followed a Fourfold Restraint (Prakrit caujjama). A definition of what this might be does not occur until about the second or third century CE when the Sthananga, one of the encyclopaedic texts of the Shvetambara canon, states that the fourfold vow involves abstention from violence, lying, taking what has not been given, and possession (Sth 266). Mahavira, on the other hand, according to tradition preached, or rather stipulated as a mode of ascetic initiation, five Great Vows (Prakrit mahavvaya), not seriously dealt with in the earliest stratum of the

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Lord Mahavira biography,23 which consist of Parshva's Fourfold Restraint along with the avoidance of sexual relations. Yet the Buddhist Pali Canon, albeit not an infallible guide to early Jainism, consistently identifies Nigantha Nayaputta, that is Mahavira, with the preaching of a Fourfold Restraint alone. 288 A well-known passage in one of the older scriptures of the Shvetambara canon (UttS 23) attempts to explain why there should be a difference between the teachings of the two fordmakers. Keshin, a follower of Parshva, and Gautama, a disciple of Mahavira, are depicted as discussing whether the Fourfold Restraint or the five Great Vows represent the true doctrine. Gautama's explanation is that there is a discrepancy in the outward appearance of the doctrine, which is in reality unified, because the moral and intellectual capabilities of the followers of the fordmakers differed. In the time of the first fordmaker there was difficulty in understanding the doctrine which was being preached for the first time, while in the time of the last fordmaker as the process of moral and spiritual decline began to take hold, people had difficulty in putting it into practice. In the time of the twentytwo intervening fordmakers, however, it was possible to both understand what was entailed by the doctrine and put it into practice. In other words, the first and last fordmakers formulated their teachings in the form of the five Great Vows in which prohibition of sexual relations is specifically prescribed as a result of the inadequacies of their followers, whereas such a ban would have been understood by the followers of the other fordmakers as being incorporated in the prohibition on possession. A further form of differentiation is said to be that the male ascetic followers of Rishabha and Mahavira were naked, while those of Parshva and the other fordmakers wore clothes. In 1917, Jugalkishor Mukhtar wrote a paper in Hindi in which he argued, employing Digambara as well as Shvetambara sources, that the fordmakers had not all taught the doctrine in the same manner and that the second to the twenty-third had in fact taught one single restraint of 'equanimity' (samayika), whereas Rishabha and Mahavira had been obliged because of the defects of the times in which they lived to specify more precisely the five main areas of moral significance.24 More recently, P.S. Jaini, drawing on research by P. K. Modi, although without any apparent reference

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The Fordmakers 289 to Mukhtar's work, has attempted to explain this problem in rather similar terms. Starting with the premise that Mahavira must have been initiated into the same ascetic vows as his predecessor Parshva, Jaini points to the common occurrence in both Shvetambara and Digambara literature of references to the samayika as representing the sole vow which Mahavira took at the time of renunciation and suggests that Parshva's Fourfold Restraint in fact related to the four modalities of the body (mind, body, speech and senses) while Mahauira's Great Vows were simply slightly different articulations of the same basic ethical and sensory equanimity. 25 Leaving aside the difficulties that the modalities of the body are traditionally regarded as being three26 and that none of the sources adduced concerning the single samayika can be located in the earliest stratum, this explanation has considerable merit. However, the criticism must remain that it derives from an insistence, difficult to sustain on a purely textual basis and deriving in the last resort from traditional Jain belief, that there was some kind of formal link between Parshva and Mahauira. The 'Exposition of Explanations' is the best source for the relationship between Mahavira and contemporary followers of Parshva. Mahauira is portrayed in one passage as converting Parshvite monks by enunciating cosmological views which he describes as having already been taught by Parshva whom he. refers to with respect. However, the conversion of these monks, is effected by their abandoning the Fourfold Restraint and taxing the five Great Vows: there is no suggestion that the two are parallel expressions of one single vow of renuciation (Bh 5.9).27 Elsewhere, an elaborate description of the mechanism of rebirth is affirmed to be both based on Parshva's teachings and at the same time a truth which Mahavira had established for himself through his omniscience (Bh 9.3).28 It is impossible to be certain about the relationship between Mahavira and Parshva. What can be stressed is that all biographies of Mahavira portray him as, unlike all other fordmakers, renouncing the world alone (AvNiry 224-5) with only the gods in attendance, and there is never any suggestion that he entered an already existing ascetic corporation. A tentative explanation might therefore be that early Jainism coalesced out of an interaction

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Lord Mahavira between the cosmological ideas of Parshva and a more rigorous form of orthopraxy advocated by Mahavira, with the relationship between the two teachers eventually being formalised within the evolving fordmaker lineage.29 It is noteworthy that later Jain writers did not see Parshva's monks as precursors of their own tradition. Starting with the Sutrakritanga where the Parshvites are associated with failure to think through the implications of a life based on non-violence (SKS 2.7), Shyetambaras came by medieval times to view them, long after they had disappeared, as pseudo-ascetics who gained their livelihood from the dubious practices of magic and Astrology,30 290 Such speculations about the connections between the two fordmakers are a matter of irrelevance for the majority of Jains. For them, Parshva, as the fordmaker who removes obstacles and has the capacity to save, is the greatest focus of devotional activity within the religion and is indeed the most popular of all the fordmakers, as a census of images in Jain temples throughout India would clearly demonstrate. According to a famous story which does not appear in literary form until the eighth century, Parshva in his previous birth saved a snake which was being burnt in a brahman's sacrificial fire. Reborn as the twenty-third fordmaker, Parshva, sunk in meditation, was attacked by the brahman, now in demonic form, with fire and rocks, but the snake, also reborn, this time as a mighty cobra prince called Dharanendra, shielded Parshva by spreading his hoods over his head.31 A historian might point to the existence of images of Parshva with a canopy of cobra's hoods which date from just before and after the common era as evidence for Jainism's early assimilation of popular snake cults.32 More significant is the way that various ethical themes in Jain teaching come together in the figure of this fordmaker: compassion, non-violence, fellowship with all living creatures, rejection of the Vedic sacrifice and awareness of the fact that actions have consequences which bind individuals together. Mahavira's Enlightenment Until his enlightenment, Mahavira was imperfect and still subject to the occluding effects of karma. Finally, at the end of the thirteenth year after his renunciation, in a field belonging to a farmer called Samaga which was situated near a small village on

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The Fordmakers a riverbank, he attained supreme and unique (kevala) knowledge, the omniscience which Jains regard as defining enlightenment. The earliest accounts of this event, precisely described as to date and location, occur in the second book of the Acaranga (AS 2.15.25-6) and, with near identical wording, in the Kalpasutra. No doubt partly retrospective and without any true awareness of what Mahavira really did experience in Samaga's field, it nonetheless gives a clear picture of what Jain tradition regards as defining each occurrence of the attainment of enlightenment. Mahavira is described by the Kalpasutra as becoming enlightened after fasting for two and a half days without water, in the full glare of the sun, 'not far from' a tree, in the rigorously ascetic posture of squatting on his haunches. There may here be an implied contrast with the Buddha who is conventionally portrayed as having become enlightened while sitting under a tree in the lotus position, but there can be no question that Jainism regards bodily mortification as a necessary condition for that meditation which effects the achievement of the final goal.33 Enlightenment in Jainism does not involve union with any sort of Absolute nor, as in Buddhism, is it described in a variety of differing ways in differing sources, but is instead clearly held to be a transcendent knowledge and vision which gives direct and simultaneous access to all forms of reality in the universe in every temporal and spatial dimension. Mahavira's ability, and indeed willingness, as evinced by the 'Exposition of Explanations', to discuss matters beyond the limits of normal human experience, which contrasts markedly with the Buddha who refused to engage in metaphysical speculation not conducive to salvation, represents for Jains a guarantee of the truth of their religion's message, for it is only the omniscient person who can know and see what lies beneath reality and as a result teach the correct spiritual path. 291 The Preaching Assembly With the exception of one or two sects, Jainism can today be said to be an actively proselytising religion only in that it advocates the universal practice of vegetarianism and nonviolence. Mahavira, however, like all the fordmakers, was obliged to create a community and so the processes of preaching and

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Lord Mahavira conversion form an important part of his post-enlightenment biography. 292 No specific context for Mahavira's preaching is given in the earliest strata of his biography. It is in the Aupapatika (Aup) that there occurs an elaborate description which gives some sense of what early Jain tradition felt the experience of Mahavira's public teaching involved, the prelude to which, written in a form of highly poetical rhythmic prose (vedha), was to provide for other Shvetambara scriptures the standard textual example of such occasions. Significantly, the scene of this event is on the outskirts of the city of Campa at the shrine (caitya) of a tree-spirit (yaksha) called Purnabhadra which is suggestive of an early Jain strategy of incorporation of local cults, already alluded to in passing with reference to Parshva. The sermon itself was, according to this source, delivered in front of a vast throng of ascetics and lay people, including the king and queen of Campa, as well as the gods who descended from heaven to hear the fordmaker preach. The details of this stylised account eventually became generalised into the literary and artistic idea of the samavasarana, a term which approximates to 'place of assembly'. As envisaged in the Universal History,34 the samavasarana is a kind of circular open air preaching arena which the gods repeatedly reconstruct when each fordmaker is about to give his First sermon. It has a pavilion and a sacred tree at its centre which is surrounded by a series of concentric and richly caparisoned balustrades, linked by gateways, within which the audience can take their places. The fordmaker faces east and the gods magically create three replicas of him facing the other directions so that the assembly of humans, gods and animals can hear the sermon perfectly.35 Artistic representations of the samavasarana abound in Jainism, providing a focus for contemplation of the universality of Mahavira's message. Every Jain temple is regarded as being a replication of the fordmakers' preaching assembly and entry to this sacred space is thus envisioned as bringing about contact with what is implied in the true teachings. Certain stories (e.g. DhMV 84) describe how brahman sacred space was encompassed and surpassed by the discovery of images of fordmakers buried underneath Vedic sacrificial enclosures. While in the Vedic sacrifice the gods assemble to watch and approve human priests

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The Fordmakers 293 slaughtering animals, in the samavasarana the gods, humans and animals all gather together in harmony to listen to the preaching of non-violence (AvNiry 562). Mahavira As Great Man Little interest is shown by the early texts in Mahavira's outward appearance. In the Aupapatika, however, there occurs an idealised picture, of the sort familiar from images and popular prints today, of a sleek and perfectly formed fordmaker whose body is in full conformity with classical Indian canons of male physique and whose internal organs are in a state of equilibrium. This description of Mahavira also delineates a variety of auspicious marks on his body and the royal paraphernalia which attended his progress (Aup pp. 25-37). The model on which this description is based, used also by the Buddhists, is that of the cakravartin, the universal emperor whose birth, like that of all the fordmakers and the Buddha, is presaged by fourteen dreams seen by his mother which indicate future greatness. For Mahavira to have a variety of S emblematic marks on his body is a sign that he is a cakravartin, albeit not of the temporal world but rather of the spiritual realm, as a story in the Universal History makes clear. An astrologer skilled in interpreting bodily marks sees footprints marked with a wheel in the wet clay on the banks of the Ganges and follows them, thinking that a cakravartin has gone by who will reward him for service, and is astonished to come upon the ascetic Mahavira. The god Indra explains the situation to the astrologer: You know the outer signs only, but there are inner signs also. The Master's flesh and blood are as white as milk, free from odour. The breath of his lotus mouth resembles the fragrance of a lotus; the Lord's body is healthy, free from dirt and perspiration. For this man is the Lord of the Three Worlds of earth, heaven and the intermediate region, an emperor of religion, benefactor of the world, bestower of safety, Mahavira. The emperors from whom you expect a reward are of little importance.36 The wheel which the astrologer saw on Mahavira's footprint is perhaps the best known of all the auspicious marks, usually being taken as symbolic of the totality of a religious path or of temporal

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294 Lord Mahavira power. Its original significance may in fact lie in an old Vedic myth in which Indra rips off a wheel from the chariot of the sun and stamps it into the ground. By carrying a mark reminiscent of this cosmic event, Mahavirg is shown to be a 'Greai Man' (mahapurusha), assimilated to the ancient Vedic gods.37 It is likely that the development of the view of Mahavira as Great an led to, or was accompanied by, a desire to furnish him with a royal genealogy, so that in the Universal History he is presented as related on his mother's side to king Shrenika and his son Kunika, two of the central figures in the rise of the dominance of the slate of Magadha in sixth century BCE (the former being known to the Buddhists as Bimbisara) and both of whom Jain sources claim were devotees of the fordmaker. The attempt found in some texts to link Mahavira with the illustrious Ikshvaku dynasty can be regarded as part of the same process. 38 The Conversion of The Ganadharas According to the Universal History, a remarkable event, peculiar to this avasarpini, happened at Mahavira's first samavasarana which took place after his attainment of enlightenment. Only the gods assembled to hear him and so, as they cannot enter the spiritual path, the fordmaker chose not to preach and thus, initially, nobody was converted (AvNiry 564). The Digambaras explain Mahavira's unwillingness to preach at this event not as the result of the absence of human beings but, more specifically, because of the lack of disciples (ganadharas), whose function is to interpret and mediate to other people the divine sound (divyadhvani) which the Digambaras claim emanates from Mahauira's body when he preaches and which would otherwise be unintelligible.39 There are no significant references to the ganadharas in the early biographical literature. However, the most important of them, Indrabhuti rautama, usually called Gautama, occurs frequently in the 'Exposition of Explanations', as an interlocutor with Mahauira and occasionally as a converter of heretics. It is in this text that the fordmaker tells Gautama that the two of them have been bound together in friendship through a series of rebirths and they are now living in their final existence after which they will both be equal in the state of spiritual deliverance (Bh 14.7).40

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The Fordmakers 295 Two factors unite Gautama and the other ten ganadharas: they were all in origin brahmans, and they were all enlightened by Mahavira and became omniscient kevalins (literally 'possessing unique knowledge'), the difference between a fordmaker and a kevalin being that the former requires no teacher (AvNiry 657). It is the Universal History which puts the conversion of the ganadharas into a narrative context, starting with a section of the mnemonic verses on Avashyakasutra (AvNiry 592-659) which provides the core of the story which was then elaborated by Jinabhadra (sixth century CE) in the 'Debate with the Ganadharas' (GV), a work associated with the literature on the Avashyakasutra but which has achieved quasi-autonomous status. According to this text, the learned brahman Gautama summoned the gods to a great sacrifice but instead they flew off to hear Mahavira preaching at his second samouasarana nearby. In fury, Gautama confronted Mahavira in debate, as did ten other brahmans in succession, with the fordmaker converting them all by a demonstration, underpinned by his claim to omniscience, that they had failed to understand the true purport of the Veda which in reality accorded with a variety of Jain doctrinal principles, such as the eternal and unique nature of every soul and the physicality of both the human body and karma. In effect, only three of the ganadharas have any real significance: Sudharman, from whom Shvetambara ascetic lineages trace their descent,41 Jambu, the last individual of this avasarpini to achieve enlightenment and Gautama, by far the most important. The biography of Gautama only starts to emerge as an independent entity by the common era and its most famous theme for Jains, his initial failure to win through to enlightenment, is a later episode, found for the first time in the developed Universal History. According to this story, Gautama, wishing to improve his chances of gaining enlightenment, went on pilgrimage to Mount Ashtapada, the site of the final deliverance of the first fordmaker, Rishabha, but although he had the magic power to scale the mountain effortlessly and was also the first person to have been converted by Mahavira, his efforts were to no avail. Mahavira told the disappointed Gautama on his return that it was his affection for his teacher that was holding him back, for any sort of emotion is a hindrance to the attainment of enlightenment. After

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296 Lord Mahavira the death of Mahavira, Gautama was distraught with grief both because of separation from his master and his continuing failure to achieve the goal but, on realising that the person for whom he was mourning was in reality liberated, he shook off the passions and at last became enlightened. Gautama seems to have become an object of devotion in his own right among the Shvetambaras by the medieval period (he does not appear to be so popular amongst the Digambaras), with the earliest recorded image of him dating from 1277 CE.42 There is a great deal of ritual literature which invokes Gautama's name in asking for help in the removal of obstacles or the gaining of magic power. Part of his attractiveness lies in the human qualities which he exemplifies. Gautama's portrayal in popular representations today as being chubby and jolly stems from an episode in the Universal History in which, preaching to some gods about the emciation which fasting brings to monks, he is mocked by his audience because of his corpulence. Gautama's reply that inner .qualities are what is significant is a warning to lay people that outer, physical appearance is not necessarily a guide to sanctity. Another episode in the Universal History in which Gautama through his magic power feeds a group of monks with a tiny amount of food exemplifies his connection with prosperity in the Jain mind, and Jain business houses on the first day of the Jain new year, which occurs in November and coincides with Gautama's enlightenment, will write the name of Mahavira's chief disciple on the opening page of their fresh account books to ensure continuing auspiciousness. The Expansion of The Fordmaker Lineage The most ancient Jain texts are interested only in Mahavira, although there are sporadic references to ancient ascetics and teachers familiar with the continuity of the doctrine which the commentators regarded as referring to earlier fordmakers (AS 1.4.1.1 and 1.6.3.2). However, the Universal History pivots around the two cardinal figures of Mahavira and the first fordmaker Rishabha (also known as Adinatha, 'Lord of the Beginning'), the latter of whom in his role as progenitor of culture simultaneously. embodies the realms of ascetic and lay values. Jain scholars today claim that Rishabha's historicity is guaranteed by the fact that his

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The Fordmakers 297 name, which means 'bull', is mentioned frequently in the Rigveda, and they also argue that a well-known Vedic hymn (Rigveda 10.136) which describes a long-haired sage (keshin muni) in fact refers to Rishabha who is frequently depicted iconographically with long hair down his back. It is possible to interpret this differently. The word 'bull' does appear frequently in the Veda but as an epithet of the god Indra, while Rishabha's name and hair suggest a comparison with the Hindu high god Shiva who rides the bull Nandin, has a topknot or mass of matted hair on his head, is both householder and ascetic and whose mythology was taking shape at the same time as the first, skeletal biography of Rishabha was being written in the Kalpasutra.43 Little more can be said about this matter and, instead of speculating about the existence of a teacher for whom no convincing historical evidence can be produced elsewhere, it seems better to view the story of Rishabha as structurally necessary for the Universal History and to conclude that his reality within the framework of Jain mythology and in the minds of his devotees is the more important factor. The biographies of Rishabha and Parshva, along with that of the twenty-second fordmaker Nemi, given in the Kalpasutra are modelled on the life of Mahavira and lack any clear sense of individuality, although that is not to say that more distinctive biographies were not evolving elsewhere (cf. Utts 22 for Nemi). Whenever the full list of twenty-four fordmakers gained currency, the images discovered at Mathura, which are roughly contemporary with this textual material and are the earliest significant artistic evidence available, not unsurprisingly show that the four fordmakers given extended biographies in the Kalpasutra were by far the most prominent at the beginning of the common era. Moreover, there is no evidence at this early period, either textual or artistic, for the distinguishing emblems (e.g. Mahavira with lion) with which the fordmakers came to be associated and with the exception of Parshva and his canopy of cobra hoods, the images can only be identified by their names engraved beneath them.44 The genuine existence of a chain of twenty-four teachers is not in itself implausible, but it should be recognised that the first reference, occurring in the Kalpasutra, to the twenty intermediate fordmakers, that is those between Rishabha and Nemi, does no .

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298 Lord Mahavira more than name them and fit them into a vast timescale, and it may be suggested that this list of teachers was concocted about the second or first centuries BCE, in partial imitation of the lists of Vedic seers found in the Upanishads, as a means of validating the Jain community as a self-aware religious group through extending the origins of the propounders of the doctrine back into the past. 45 By the early common era, the fordmakers as a group had assumed their role as guides through the forest of existence and captains of the ship sailing over the ocean of rebirth (AvNiry 904-17), and the particular emblems by which Jain iconography signals awareness of their separate identities were gradually introduced from the late fourth century CE onwards.46 While there is no doubt that Jains have from a devotional point of view been preoccupied through the centuries largely with Mahavira, Parshva, Rishabha and Nemi, it should not be concluded that other fordmakers are mere ciphers. Omitting an account of Malli until the next chapter, one should single out as particularly important Shanti who is regarded as being the personification of peace while there also seem to be some regional and sectarian preferences, as in the case of Ananta who is popular to day with southern Digambaras. Early Teachings No religious tradition should be reduced to a simple set of basic principles nor, however congenial it might be to philological research, should an attempt be made to situate the complete essence of a religion in the words of some putative founder, both because it is usually extremely problematic to make objective decisions about what a founder actually said and because religions are obviously highly complex interlocking patterns of practice and belief which ultimately elude fixed categorisation. So, while we may be confident that the Jain scriptures preserve some reasonably accurate account of the content and style of Mahavira's teachings, the literal words of the fordmaker cannot be retrieved, a fact that is of no concern to Jains since, to them, Mahavira's teachings and the way Jainism. of whatever sect, manifests itself today are one and the same. Nonetheless, Jainism does have a history, even though its doctrinal component became stabilised at a relatively early date, and it is necessary to inspect the ancient texts to see

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The Fordmakers 299 what light they throw on the earliest phase of Jain teachings. The extensive 'Enunciation of Explanations provides the fullest textual account of Mahavira's teachings but because of the stereotyped manner in which they are presented, generally taking the form of a response to a question posed by Gautama, this particular scripture 'is perhaps more significant as an indication of the vast range of metaphysical interests of early Jainism as personified in the figure of the twenty-fourth fordmaker. It is impossible to demonstrate the existence of some original, pristine form of Jainism but the oldest sources available, the first books of the Acaranga and Sutrakritanga, do suggest what was most significant in Mahauira's teachings and how, as a path to deliverance, they linked up with the broader Indian thought world. The Acaranga makes a firm statement about the central concern of the doctrine: 'All breathing, existing, living, sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure, unchangeable, eternal law which the clever ones, who understand the world, have proclaimed' (AS 1.4.1.1-2; trans. Jacobi). The world is characterised by ignorance, suffering and pain caused by action (AS 1.1.2.1). True understanding embodies itself in non-violence through an awareness that all living creatures, including oneself, do not wish to suffer in any way (SKS 2.11.910). As a broad ethical principle, this is fairly unexceptional and has to be fitted into a further series of conceptions: action, whether done, caused or condoned by oneself, brings about rebirth (AS 1.1), and the world is in a state of suffering caused by the actions of ignorant people (AS 1.2.1) who do not know that they are surrounded by life-forms which exist in earth, water, air and fire, a true understanding of which can be gained from the teaching of Mahavira. Denial of the nature and reality of this world is tantamount to the denial of the experience of one's own inner self (AS 1.1.3.2). Jainism, then, appears at the outset as a form of knowledge grounded on the authoritative insights of a teacher which enables a reorientation of one's attitude towards the world of living creatures and consequently, towards oneself. It is not, however, envisaged as a path which can be followed by householders who of necessity perform all sorts of violent actions and are in thrall to

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300 Lord Mahavira the whirlpool of the senses (AS 1.1.5.1-3), for freedom from action can only arise from the mendicant and ascetic state of homelessness, which engenders the right mental stance with regard to the world and also requires fortitude in the face of difficulties (SKS 1.14). The Jain monk is portrayed in the earliest texts as being fully responsible for his destiny and in control of his life, and his isolation and independence, which mirror the state of the soul as conceived by Jainism, are conveyed in stark terms: Man, it is you who are your only friend. Why do you want a friend other than yourself? (AS 1.3.3.4) When the monk realises that he is alone, that he has no connection with anyone and that no one has any connection with him, in the same way he should realise that his self is also alone. (AS 1.8.6.1) The way to deliverance is abstention from action and the overcoming of the passions: The person who does not act gets no new karma and so knows what karma is. Through his knowledge, he is a great hero (Mahavira) so that there is no further birth for him nor does he die. (SKS 1.15.7) Deliverance is designated both as non-violence itself (SKS 1.3.4.20 and 1.11.11) and as a state free from corporeality from which 'words return in vain, about which no statements of mundane logic can be made and which the mind cannot fathom' (AS 1.5.6.3). The soul which has attained this state is totally unconditioned: It is not long nor small nor round nor triangular nor quadrangular nor circular; it is not black nor blue nor red nor green nor white; neither of good nor bad smell; not bitter nor pungent nor astringent nor sweet; neither rough nor soft; neither heavy nor light; neither cold nor hot; neither harsh nor smooth. It does not have a body, is not born again, has no attachment and is without sexual gender. While

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The Fordmakers having knowledge and sentience, there is nonetheless nothing with which it can be compared. Its being is without form, there is no condition of the unconditioned. It is not sound nor form nor smell nor flavour nor touch or anything like that. This is what I say. 301 (AS 1.5.6.4; trans. by Jacobi, emended) The early Jain texts describe in nascent form concepts which were to be discussed in greater depth at a later period. They make no attempt to give an account of the process by which the soul is reborn nor the precise nature of its relationship with karma. The cosmography which later Jainism was to elaborate at such length's unknown, although there is acceptance of the existence of hells (SKS 1.5), and the basic ontological categories of classical Jain metaphysics are not found in systematic form at this stage. The householder's life is stigmatised as worthless and dangerous and the stress is very much on the difficult but noble life of the ascetic which, if performed correctly, is regarded as leading automatically to deliverance. However, there is only very sporadic reference to the Great Vows and there is found no attempt to adumbrate a formal code of ethics and monastic practice, beyond the stipulation that the passions must be conquered through withdrawal from the world of the senses and that any sort of violence or possession is bad.47 One of the old Jain names for the Acaranga is the Veda and indeed many similarities to the early Jain world view can be found both in the brahmanical literature of ritual theory and in the Upanishads. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.4), for example, describes the appropriate gifts to priests as being austerity, generosity (dana), uprightness, non-violence and truthfulness, qualities which, with the exception of generosity which is not discussed seriously in the early Jain texts, are not at variance with Mahavira's ethical prescriptions. The statement of the Acaranga, 'that which is the soul is that which knows, that which is the knower is the soul, that by which one knows is the soul' (AS 1.5.5.5), is very much redolent of Upanishadic modes of expression, as can also be seen by the Jain source's use of aya, the Prakrit equivalent of Sanskrit atman, the usual word for self or soul in the Upanishads, rather than Jiva which was to become the Jain technical term for a life-monad.48

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302 Lord Mahavira rather than Jiva which was to become the Jain technical term for a life-monad.48 What appears as new however, and what must have served at the outset to distinguish the Jains from other groups of world renouncers, is the integration of previously established categories such as karma, rebirth and deliverance into a particularly rigorous mode of life based on a uniquely sensitive analysis of the nature of the external world and the various types of living creature which surrounded the individual. It is both the self-control and the compassion generated by this understanding, the awareness that all living creatures to a greater or lesser extent experience the same sort of feelings as humans, and the resultant desire for, as the Jains put it, friendship with all creatures, which mark out Jainism as a religion with universal concerns at its very beginning. 1. 2. 10. 11. 12. For the biographies of Haribhadra, see Granoff (19896). See also Chapter 5 and 8. For the fullest version available, see Hemacandra (1931-62). Cf. Deleu (1970: 257). Gombrich (1988). Cf. Collins (1982: 29-64). For a version of this ubiquitous story. See Granoff (1990: 118-39). Cf. Deleu (1970: 140-2). Cf. Bollee (1981) and Dundas (1991: 173-4). The terms gana and sangha were also used of some of the quasi-lligarchies which were eventually swallowed by larger kingdoms. Cf. Collins (1988). Cf. Norman (1983). For the structure of the Jain universe, see Chapter 4. They also differ in the type of karma they have accrued. See Hemacandra (1931-62, volume three: 7 and 346). An important and unique theme in the biography of the twenty-second fordmaker Nemi is his renunciation of the world on his wedding day on seeing the wretchedness of the animals who were to be killed to provide food for the feast. See Utts 22. 14-24. Jain women will ofter to the popular belief that Mahavira's non-violence was such that he did not kick out even in his mother's womb. Cf. Bechert (1983). Malvania (1986: 89-95). Cf. Deleu (1970: 163).. Jacobi (1884: 70-87). Cf. Bruhn's introduction to CMPC: 6. Wujastyk (1984). For Shvetambara references to the endurances, see Dundas (1985: note 55). Cf. Deleu (1970: 214-20). For the Ajivikas, see Basham (1951). Jaini (1980: 228-9). 14. 15. 16. 17. 20. 21. 22.

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The Fordmakers 303 23. 24. Cf. Dixit (1978: 7). Reprinted in Mukhtar (1956: 67-79). Jaini (1979: 15-20). Compare DVS 4.1 (trans. Schurbing 1977:125). Jaini's sole textual corroboration of the fourfold restraint is the reference from the Sthananga mentione above. The term used there is samjama. Note that probably the very earliest Jain source, the first book of the Acaranga, connects Mahavira with three restraints (AS 1.8.1.4). The ninth century commentator Shilanka's explanation involves taking them either as representing the Great Vows of abstention from violence, lying and possession, with taking what has not been given and sexual intercourse being including within possession, or, anachronistically, as referring to the Three Jewels of right faith, knowledge and practice. Cf. Deleu (1970: 117). Cf. Deleu (1970: 162-3). See also Bh 2.5 where Mahavira concurs with the doctrine preached by Parshvite monks. Cf. Deleu (1970: 92). Note that IBH 31, apparently one of the early sources for Parshva, is somewhat problematic since it connects him with the eightfold karma which does not otherwise seem to be a feature of Jain doctrine in its earliest form. Cf. Dundas (forthcoming). Cf. Shah, U.P. (1987: 171-2). For the legend of Parshva, see Bloomfield (1919). Shah, U.P. (1987: 171-2). The seventh fordmaker Suparshva is also iconographically distinguished by cobra's hoods over his head. But note the odd exception such as Queen Marudevi, according to the Shvetambaras the first person of this world age to achieve liberation (moksha), who did not practice austerities. Hemacandra (1931-62, volume one: 190-4). For the samavasarana, cf. Shah (1955b.). Hemacandra (1931-62, volume six: 62-4). Bollee (1983: 238-40). Cf. Barnett (1907: vii). Cf. Mukhtar (1956: 60-1). Cf. Deleu (1970: 209). One of the medieval Shvetambara ascetic lineages, the Upakesha Gaccha, now defunct, was unique in tracing its origin back to Parshva. Vinayasagar (1987: 66). Cf. Shah, U.P. (1987: 66). Joshi (1989) and Shah, U.P. (1987: 83). The twenty-four fordmakers are Rishabha, Ajita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Padmaprabha, Suparshva, Candraprabha, Suvidhi (also known as Pushpadanta), Shitala, Shreyamsa, Vasupujya, Vimala, Ananta, Dharma, Shanti, Kunthu, Ara, Malli, Munisuvrata, Nami. Nemi, Parshva and Mahavira. For the emblems associated with them, see shah, U.P. (1987: 112-204). The twenty-first fordmaker Nami occurs also in Buddhist tradition as a king who renounced the world and may represent an ancient figure, authoritative for the various religious groups of the Ganges basin. For the Jain version of his life, see UtS 9 and compare Alsdorf (1974: 215-24) and Norman (1983). Shah, U.P. (1987: 86). Cf. Dixit (1978: 1-21). Cf. Malvania (1981: 152). 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 48.

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19 THE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE GNYATA PUTRA K.C. Lalwani 1 Lord Mahavira, the twenty fourth Tirthankara of the Jainas, was born about two thousand and five hundred years back. He belonged to the Jnatrika clan of the ksatriyas that lived at and around Vaisali in Bihar. His father Siddhartha was the chief of his clan and from his mother's side, Mahauira, known as Vardhamana in his early life, was connected with the famous Licchavi princes. After, the death of his parents, in his thirtieth year, Vardhamana renounced the life of a prince and took to enormous ascetic hardship for about twelve years and thereafter for about three decades he lived the life of a kevoli (one with 'pure' knowledge), an arhat or a 'man-god' to inspire and guide humanity to liberation. He became a Tirthankara because he organised the tirtha or 'order' consisting of the sramanas (monks) and the sravakas (laity), both male and female. The sixth century B. C. was a time when men's minds in several widely separated parts of the world were deeply stirred by problems of religion and philosophy. Like Socrates and Plato in Greece and Lao-tse and Confucius in China, Manavira and Buddha assumed the leadership of this new awakening in this country. By this time, the Vedic age had slipped into the past and even the intellectual resurgence of the Upanisads was fast losing hold on popular mind. It was in this spiritual crisis in the life of the society that a new dispensation with emphasis on moral and ethical sides of man and devoid of excessive ritualism was called for and this was provided by Mahavira and Buddha. Jainism, like Buddhism, has often been called a heretical religion. It is heretical in the sense that it is non-vedic. But whether it is atheistic is still a matter of controversy. At most it can be said

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The Philosophies of The Gnyata Putra 305 that it is non-God though still it has faith in karma and rebirth and hence is not as atheistic as Carvakism. The emphasis of Jaina teaching is on the purification of the individual through the practice of five great vows: ahimsa (non violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (celibacy) and aparigraha (non-attachment), called mahavratas, by the monks and the same five with slightly less rigour, called anuvratas, by the laity. The essential difference between the Jaina notion of ahimsa and that of the non-dualist Upanisads stems from the fact that while the former admits the real plurality of selves and establishes non-violence on the basis of the doctrine of their 'intrinsic equality', no matter whether these selves are earth-bodied, water-bodied, vegetable organisms, insects, birds or human beings, the Upanisadic notion establishes non-violence on the basis of their 'intrinsic identity' with the Absolute (Brahman). The Jaina notion of ahimsa is thus all-pervasive. The reason for this is so aptly described by Prof. Jacobi in the following words: "A characteristic dogma of the Jainas which pervades the whole philosophical system and code of morals, is the hylozoistic theory that not only animals and plants but also the smallest particles of the elements, earth, fire, water and wind, are endowed with souls." Another contribution of the Jainas is the notion of the triratna, the 'three gems', samyakjnana (right knowledge), samyak darsana (right perception) and samyak caritra (right behaviour), which unlike the bhakti-marga of the Bhagavatas, thejnanamarga of the Vedantins and the karma-marga of the Mimansakas, have to be simultaneously pursued. Right knowledge is the knowledge of the fundamentals about soul, karma and liberation; right perception is an unshaking faith in the fundamentals; but right behaviour, which is about the most difficult in this world full of attachment, is to be attained through the practice of the five great vows. On the question of their sintaltaneous pursuit, the Jaina commentators use the analogy of medicine. A man suffering from a disease must have faith in the efficacy of the medicine, have knowledge of its use and must actually administer it to overcome the ailment. One of the most controversial is the Jaina notion of anekanta, also called syadvada, which has been denounced from the days of Sankara or even earlier. According to Dr. Radhakrishnan,

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306 Lord Mahavira Jainism "leads to monistic idealism but so far as the Jainas shrink rom it, they are untrue to their own logic." Much of this criticism s the outcome of an inadequate appreciation of the Jaina stand by the Ekantins (or Vedantins) in whose view, at the beginning there is the Absolute and the end-process is the merging with the Absolute. The Jainas, who hold no notion of God, and according to whom the jivas (beings) are innumerable and eternal, do not make the end-process merge with the Absolute. The Jaina notion of pluralistic relativism has received added support from Einstein's theory of 'relativity' according to which, in the words of Hans Reichenback, "relativity does not mean an abandonment of truth; it only means that truth can be formulated in various ways." The greatest contribution of Jainism, not only from the standpoint of the Jainas, but from that of that entire humanity, is the instead of bringing God to the level of man, as theistic religions often do, Jainism looks on man as God when his inherent powers are in full development. It is not the Son of God, a Messiah or an Avatar, but a Man-God, an Arhat, an ideal man that is the ideal of human beings. To attain this ideal man-hood, Jainism does not believe in God's intervention or mercy; rather it holds that karma by itself is adequate to explain the whole experience and thus to impress upon the individual his complete responsibility for what he does. In other words, it prescribes a spiritual independence for man but simultaneously it makes his responsibility coextensive with it. So what man will actually be, whether rising to liberation or stepping back to lower forms of earthly existence, depends exclusively on man's own effort which none else determines and for which none else is responsible.

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307 20 THE LIFE OF MAHAVIRA* - K.V. Mardia Mahavira was born in 599 B.C. in Kundagrama, then a large city in Northern India near the modern city of Patna. His father was King Siddhartha and his mother Trisala. His original name, Vardhamana, which means "ever growing" was given to him because everything in the kingdom became abundant during the period of his mother's pregnancy. He soon developed a great sense of understanding and rapport with animals. Even in his childhood he courageously subdued a terrifying snake. He also calmed an elephant which had gone on the rampage and stopped it from doing further damage. A fight with a large bully led to the name Mahauira or "Great Hero". He almost certainly received the typical training of a prince of that period e.g. in literature, political science, archery, mathematics, etc. He was very intelligent and at an early age nis teacher confessed that Mahavira was ahead of him in knowledge. He led a normal domestic life and married Yasoda (that is according to Svetambara, but was not married according to Digambara), having a daughter named Priyadarsana. According to one version, when he was 28 years old, on leaving the palace one day he saw a slave being whipped by his owner. Through this incident he became unhappy with the exploitation of the poor, gnorant and illiterate by richer members of the community, and a desire to leave family life developed within him. He did, however, have a deep feeling of consideration for his parents and this moved him to vow that he would not renounce domestic life until they * K.V. Mardia, The Scientific Foundations of Jainism, Lala S. L. Jain Research Series, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidas, 1990.

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308 Lord Mahavira had both passed away. After the death of his parents he waited until some two years later when their loss had become bearable to his elder brother, and then asked his permission to leave the palace. (The Digambaras believe that he became a monk while his parents were still alive). It is believed that during these last two years in the palace he spent a considerable time in self- analysis, rather than in mundane, everyday pursuits. He then left home to search for the root of all problems, i.e. to understand human nature and to study the universe in general. Obviously, his social status and environment whilst living in the palace was unsuited to this quest. Pursuit of the Goal and Enlightement He devoted the subsequent twelve and a half years to his research with intense single-mindedness. As he felt that it would assist his meditation, he lived very frugally, wandering from place to place wearing only a single garment and frequently fasting. He also reduced his other needs, e.g. by removing his hair by hand. So intense was his concentration on his goal, that when his garment was accidentally caught on a thorn bush and pulled off, during 13 months of renunciation, he remained naked. (However, according to the Digambaras, he removed his clothes at the time of renunciation.) Another incident showing his single-mindedness of purpose relates to how he was meditating in a standing posture in a farm and the farmer who had his cows grazing around him, asked him to look after them whilst he was away. Since he was in a state of deep meditation, Mahavira did not notice that the cows were wandering away. When the farmer came back, he asked Mahavira about the missing cows and since he was under a vow of silence, he did not reply. The already upset farmer was further infuriated and he hammered two wooden nails through Mahavira's ear to punish him for this lapse. But even that action did not break Mahavira's silence, and Mahavira remained compassionate towards him. It is said that he remained in total solitude until Mikkhali Gosala, who had heard of Mahavira's outstanding abilities, searched and found him. Gosala was a travelling story-teller and a follower of the fatalist doctrine of the Ajivika sect of which he

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The Life of Mahavira 309 later became chief spokesman. It is related that they were together for six years during which time Gosala became thoroughly acquainted with Mahauira and his abilities. Mahauira described the six months of austerities which he thought necessary for the attainment of trese abilities. Mahauira finally attained kevalajnana (Dynamic Omniscience State) precisely 12 years, 6 months and 15 days after starting out on his search. Thus he was able to comprehend the mechanism of the universe as a whole and human nature in particular, which led him to the root of all problems. Career as a Tirthankara Having left his princely state in pursuit of his goal, on his enlightenment Mahavira came back to share his knowledge with the community. The event of coming back is far more significant than his search. He gave his first sermon to an audience which included Indrabhuti Gautama, who was well-versed in Hindu scriptures and extremely proud of his knowledge. Through this encounter Gautama became his chief disciple (ganadhara). Eventually he had eleven ganadharas as his inner circle. He had a great natural organisational ability and as his followers grew in number, he formed "tirtha" (the order) of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. Also his daughter, Priyadarsana, who was married to Jamali, eventually became a follower of Mahavira. To distinguish his ideas clearly from the prevalent influence of Hinduism, he developed a very versatile talent for coining new terminology, e.g. the lay followers were called Sravaka, those who are attentive (right) listeners, and monks were called sramana, that is, labourers on the spiritual path. He vigorously reaffirmed the concept of autonomous self-responsibility, that is, removing the idea of a God who influences the day to day activities of eyeryone. Further, he claimed "Every man has a right to and could attain nirvana by his own effort without the help of any supreme authority or mediatory priest.". . He preached equality to all living beings, including the equality of all mankind, i.e. abandonment of slavery, the caste system, animal sacrifices, etc. In fact, the leader of the order of nuns was a slave named Candana. At the other extreme, one of the kings of that time, Bimbisara, became a staunch follower. (See, H.L. Jain & Upadhye, 1974).

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310 Lord Mahavira One of the revolutionary contributions of Mahavira was to change the Hindu recomrnendation that monkhood should not commence before the latter part of one's life. He introduced the idea thai there is no particular time for worldly renunciation, with gradual transformation advocated for those who are not ready for total renunciation at an early age. One of the outstanding features of Mahavira was that he was the perfect living image of compassion towards all forms of life. An example quoted is of a cobra called Chandkosia, which had been withstanding all who had tried to cross its path. One day, the cobra bit Mahavira, but such was his knowledge that he could see, through the cobra's past lives, how it had developed such a nature and he had great compassion for it. Such was his compassion, rather like a mother for her child, that it was as though milk flowed through the wound and the injury became secondary to the concern that Mahavira had for the cobra's well-being. Ultimately, Gosala turned against Mahavira and challenging Mahavira, he tried to intimidate him with a curse, saying that he would die of a fever within six months. Mahavira did become ill but eventually recovered. The death of Gosala shortly afterwards gave the impression that the curse had returned to its source. However, Mahavira himself was always against magical or Yogic power. Mahauira continued to teach and practise the three jewels up to the time of his holy death. Various fundamental teachings and practices, with only minor variations, are still prevalent among Jains. In particular, all Jains celebrate the festival of lights (Diwali) because on Diwali's day Mahavira achieved Moksa, whereas on the same day his main disciple Gautama attained the omniscience state.

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THINKERS' HOMAGE 1. Mahavira proclaimed in India, the message of salvation that religion is reality and not a mere convention, that salvation comes from taking refuge in the true religion and not from observing the external ceremonies of the community, that religion cannot regard any barries between man and man as an eternal verity. Wondrous to say, this teaching repidly overtopped the barriers of the race's abiding instinct and conquered the whole country. - Ravindranath Tagore (INDIA) 2. Lord Mahavira again brought into prominence the doctrine of Jainism. Jain religion was prevalent in India before Buddhism. In ancient times innumerable animals were butchered in sacrifice. The credit of the disappearance of the massacre from the Brahmanical religion goes to the share of Jainism. -Bal Gangadhar Tilak. (INDIA) 3. No religion of the world has explained the principle of Ahimsa so deeply and systematically as discussed with its applicability in life in Jainism. As and when this benevolent principle of Ahimsa will be sought for practice by the people of the world to achieve their ends of life in this world and beyond, Jainism is sure to have the uppermost status and Bhagwan Mahavira is sure to be respected as the greatest authority on Ahimsa. If anybody developed the doctrine of non-violence, it was Lord Mahavira, think over it and translate it into action. - Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (INDIA) JAIN VISHVA BHARATI INSTITUTE LADNUN (RAJASTHAN), INDIA