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

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The Unknown Pilgrims
aid to perseverance but also excites a desire to imitate them. Also its effect is purificatory.
The Sthanakavāsi and Terapanthi sadhvis perform bhāva-pūjā at the upasraya or wherever they are; the absence of a sanctuary does not in any way diminish the fervour of their bhakti.
Even if bhāva-pūjā takes place in inner silence its bhakti-elements is for all that not checked. This is not an exercise imposed from without, nor is there any limit to the expression of praise. It can also be expressed audibly at any time of the day, through song, poetry or improvisation. Quite a number of sadhvis come from villages where the local tradition, both religious and popular, is still very much alive. In their own homes, since childhood, they have heard hymns of praise sung or recited, and they spontaneously use them.53
G - Svadhyāya: Meditative study of Scripture
Starting at daybreak and thereafter for a large part of the day, the sādhvis, principal activity is svādhyāya, which is the means through which they stay faithful to their tradition. 54
a) Svādhyāya: Meditative study of Scripture
Sva-adhyaya, the study and repetition to oneself of the śruta that has been transmitted and preserved in Scripture, constitutes one of the forms of inner tapas and thus brings about nirjarā.55 In those who practise svadhyāya, the karman jñānāvaraṇa which obscures
53 Cf. e.g. the Bhaktamara-stotram (P 98 n. 16). also the wonderful poems of Muni Anandaghana of Gujarāta (XVIIth c.). The majority of sadhvis possess a large repertory of poems, almost always ones expressing devotion to the arhats or to the dharma under its multiplicity of forms.
54 We may recall that the US proposes 12 hours out of 24 for svādhyāya.
55 Cf. P 369 ff. In its practical outworking, svädhyāya involves the use of doctrinal works interpreting the Agamas, of which the authority is recognised by tradition.