Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
2
Shivakoti139, Ravishena140, Jatasimhanandi141, Jinasena142, Padmanandi143, Devasena144, Amritachandra145 and others have certainly written about the vows of the Shravaks, but they have remained silent about the images. The other tradition is of such Acharyas who not only mentioned the images but also discussed their form in detail. Among them, the names of Acharya Samantabhadra146, Somdeva147, Amitagati148, Vasunandi149, Pandit Ashadhara150, Medhavi151, Sakalkirti152 and others can be taken.
The Shravak who has a good knowledge of the nine principles can adopt the image. Without the knowledge of the nine principles, the proper observance of the images is not possible. Some thinkers are of the opinion that in the first image, one should observe a fast for one day and take the Parana on the next day, in the second image, take the Parana in small portions, and in this way, up to the eleventh image, one should observe penance and take the Parana. But the statement of these thinkers is not substantiated by any Agama and later texts. In the Upasakadashanga Sutra, the Shravaks like Ananda etc. had certainly observed penance at the time of worshipping the images. But there is no clear instruction that only this much penance should be done.
Some thinkers also believe that in the present time, no Shravak can worship the images. Just as the Bhikshus have given up the images, the Shravaks have also given up the images. The view of these thinkers is worth considering. Perhaps the compulsory condition of fasting penance along with the images is the basis of this view. According to the Digambara tradition, the observance of Shravak-images is for life, while in the Shvetambara tradition, their time limit is fixed at one, two up to eleven months. Even today, there are Shravaks who observe the images in the Digambara tradition.
In this way, various subjects have been presented in the eleventh Samvaya. Twelfth Samvaya: An Analysis
- In the twelfth Samvaya, twelve Bhikshu images, twelve Sambhoga, twelve cycles of Kritikarm, the dimension of Vijaya capital as twelve lakh Yojana Vishkambha have been described. The age of Maryada-Purushottama Rama has been stated as twelve hundred years. It has been said that the Ratrimana and Sarvarthasiddha Vimana are twelve Yojana above the Ishatpragbhara earth, and the Naraka and Devas have twelve Palya-upama and twelve...