________________
CHAPTER V MAHĀVIRA'S OMNISCIENCE AND THE ORIGINATING
OF THE FOURFOLD CONGREGATION
Mahāvira's omniscience (1-10)
The Master, Lord of the World, exposing himself to the heat of the sun, remained under a śāl tree in the field of the householder Śyāmāka on the north bank of the Rjupālikā, in the vicinity of an old135 shrine, in the squatting posture, observing a fast of two days, in the muhūrta Vijaya.136 The destructive karmas of the Master, who was engaged in pure meditation, standing on the ladder of destruction of karma,137 snapped like an old rope. On the tenth day of the white half of Vaiśākha, when the moon was in conjunction with Hastottara, in the fourth watch of the day, the Lord's omniscience arose.
Knowing about the Lord's omniscience from the shaking of their thrones the Indras came there with the gods, delighted. Some jumped up, some flew, some danced, some laughed, some sang, some roared like a lion, some neighed like a horse, some trumpeted like an elephant, some squeaked like a chariot, some hissed like a snake. Other gods of the four categories, their hearts delighted by the appearance of the Master's omniscience, behaved in various ways. The gods made a samavasaraṇa138
135 2. Avyakta seems to be Hem.'s interpretation of the veyåvatta of KS, 120. KSK, p. 114 a, sanskritizes veyāvatta as vyāvștta, which it interprets as old '; or • Vyantara.'
136 2. Muhurta Vijaya. MW 17th or according to some 11th '; PH, 12th or 17th. It must have been late afternoon as it was in the 4th watch. The Hindu day begins at sunrise.
137 3. For the ladders, see I, p. 204, 433 f. One can not fall from the kşapakaśreņi.
138 9. The preaching-hall erected by the gods for an Arhat, when he has acquired kevala. For a detailed description, see I, pp. 190-192.
Jain Education International
.
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
