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LIVES OF THE GINAS.
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LIFE OF PÂRSVA.
In that period, in that age lived the Arhat Pårsva, the people's favourite?, the five most important moments of whose life happened when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Visakhâ : in Visakhâ he descended (from heaven), and having descended thence, entered the womb (of his mother); in Visakhâ he was born; in Visakhâ, tearing out his hair, he left the house and entered the state of houselessness; in Visakhâ he obtained the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and full; in Visakha he obtained final liberation. (149)
In that period, in that age, in the first month of summer, in the first fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Kaitra, on its fourth day, the Arhat Pârsva, the people's favourite, descended from the Pranata Kalpa, where he had lived for twenty Sågaropamas, here on the continent Gambadvipa, in Bharatavarsha, in the town of Benares; and in the middle of the night when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Visakhâ, after the termination of his allotted length of life, divine nature, and existence (among the gods), he took the form of an embryo in the womb of the queen Vâmå, wife of Asvasena, king (of Benares). (150)
The knowledge of the Arhat Pârsva, the people's
1 Purisâdânîya, explained: who is to be chosen among men because of his preferable karman.
? This is the tenth world of the gods.
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