Unknown Pilgrims

SR No.: 007014
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N Shanta
Publisher: Sri Satguru Publications Delhi
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 820
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 100

The Unknown Pilgrims
who have attained nirvana, to the ascetics of the past and, more concretely, to contemporary ascetics. It is not only the parameṣthins who are venerated, but also the dharma. The three sutras called the māngalikas (auspicious) which belong to the rite of the avasyakas (duties), are addressed to the dharma taught by the kevalins as being Happiness, Excellence, the supreme Refuge, in the same way as on other occassions invocation is made to the arhats, siddhas and ascetics,37
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The Digambara āryikās include in their rite several bhakti hymns, recitations of praise to the parameṣṭhins and also to other objects of Iveneration such as śruta, Scripture,38 and caitya, the temple.
All this might be merely in the realm of the purely abstract, if this devotion were not undergirded by concrete action and openly manifested.
Human beings in their earthly struggles need to be stimulated and encouraged by the example of heroic lives whose deeds speak to them and help them to traverse saṁsāra, time and the complexities of their own lives. They need the sublime, the marvellous, the supernatural, along with pictures and stories. The tirthankaras are the ones who struggled until they won final victory, the ones who are examples to follow and who provide inspiration, guidance and support. Each Name pronounced in the Caturviṁśatistava conjures up its own symbols and legends. Certain tirthankaras have provided inspiration for many literary works, each of which witnesses to the ardent devotion of its author, a devotion which has kindled and kept alive the devotion of the faithful both of his own day and of subsequent generations.3
39
37 Cf. P 703-704.
38 Cf. P 667. The śruta consists of the teaching of Mahavira and the early sages, transmitted orally and preserved in the texts of Scripture.
39 The largely legendary biographies of the 24 tirthankaras and their contemporaries are called Purāņas by the Digambaras and Caritras by the