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528
The Unknown Pilgrims
- they recall ekatva and anitya-bhāvanā. A sadhvi is well aware that
she is alone, dependent on no-one; the eternal Reality is the atman,
all the rest is anitya, transient and perishable;200 - they ask pardon from all living beings, harbouring hate towards no
one, and they grant pardon to all; - there follows a very short pratikramana for faults committed through the three yogas, and, finaliy, the Namaskāra-mantra.201
These sūtras express in brief the sum total of a sādhvi's belief, the goal towards which day after day she courageously journeys. She falls asleep free from attachments, at peace with all living beings, still praising the parameşthins, the invisible links uniting the members of the samgha, who have taught and transmitted the dharma and whose message is addressed to all living beings.
200 Cf. AS I, 3, 3, 4; 7,6, 1; SkrS I, 13, 18; P 362 ff.
201 Cf. SramanS, pp. 342-349; Pañcapratikramana-sutra, pp. 257-272, where the sūtras are the same, though arranged in a slightly different order.
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