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PART I
A BRIEF SURVEY OF A LONG TRADITION
Caturviṁśatistava: Praise to the twenty-four tirthankaras
I will praise the luminaries of the universe,1
the conquerors, the founders of the dharmatirtha,2 the arhats,
the four and twenty omniscient ones.
I salute with reverence Rṣabha, Ajita,
Sambhava, Abhinandana and Sumati, Padmaprabha, Supărśva and the jina Candraprabha.
I salute with reverence Suvidhi (Puspadanta), Śitala, Śreyamsa and Vāsupūjya, Vimala and the jina Ananta, Dharma and Śanti. I salute with reverence Kunthu, Ara, Malli, Munisuvrata and Nami, Ariṣṭanemi, Pārsva and Vardhamana. These having praised, exempt [as they are] from [karmic] dust and tarnish, freed from old age and death, the twenty-four tirthankaras, pre-eminent, victorious, may they show me their favour! May these exalted siddhas, thus praised and revered and honoured throughout the universe, accord me
Jain Education International
1 The universe, or three worlds: the lower, middle and higher; cf. TS III-IV.
2 Dharma-tirtha: the ford or passage to the further shore, the way which leads to Deliverance; the samgha: Jaina community.
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