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૯૮
જ અર્થ જણાવ્યેા હતા. કદાચ આ રીતનેા અર્થ કરવામાં હું' ભૂલતા હાઉ” તે તે માટે વાચક મહાશયે નીચેનાં પ્રમાણા તરફ્ દૃષ્ટિ કરવા ચૂકશે નહિં. સસાર પ્રસિદ્ધ ઇંગ્રેજી વિશ્વકેશમાં ( Encyclopaedia–એન્સાઇકલે પીડીઆમાં ) ચૈત્ય’શબ્દ માટે નીચે પ્રમાણે જણાવ્યું છે.—
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Chaitya:-( Sanskrit,
an adjective form
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derived from Chita a funeral pile )-In accordance with its etymology the word might denote originally anything Connected with a funeral pile e. g. The bimulus raised over the ashes of the dead person, or a tree marking the spot. Such seems to have been its earlier use in Indian literature, whether Brahamanical, Buddhist, or jain; but. as the custom of erecting Monuments over the ashes or over the relics of departed saints prevaited chiefly among the Buddhists and the jains, the word (or one of the Prakrit equivalents, Pali chaitya, etc.) is especially Characteristic of their literature. In this sense it is practically synonymous with stupa, 'tope,' in India (though stupa is rasker archiecture and chaitya the religious, term) and has various equivalents in the countries of Asia to which the custom extended with the spread of Buddhism- At a later period chaitya was used more generally to denote any shrine, reliquary
