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Jainism and Buddhism
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word "Ari" means enemy, and the verb "hun" means to kill. Therefore Arihantanam means one who has destroyed his enemies. Therefore the first salutation is offered to one who has destroyed all his base passions. This explains the first sentence of Navakar Mantra The whole Navkar Mantra is as under :
Namo Arihantanam
Namo Siddhanam
Namo Ayarianam
Namo Uvajjayanam
Namo Lohe Savva Sahunnam.
I bow doen to the Arihant, I bow down to a Siddha (one who is totally liberated), I bow down to the Ayarianam (Acharya, the preceptor), I bow down to Upadhyaya (one who preaches), I bow down to all the saints of the world.
These are five salutations. It is important to note that they are not addressed to any particular Prophet of Jains. They are addressed to anybody who possesses the qualitities of Arihant, Siddha Acharya. Upadhyaya and Saint, irrespective of the religion to
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