World of Conquerors

SR No.: 007722
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Natubhai Shah
Publisher: Natubhai Shah
Total Pages: 427
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 8 MB

Page 259

vandanaka, self-study, restraints, austerities and the fourfold donation of shelter, food, medicine and books.
Rituals on special days: Jains perform special rituals, penance and austerity on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th and 14th or15th day of each half of a lunar month, and on the five auspicious anniversaries of the tirthankaras. They perform elaborate penitential retreats on the 14th day (among Sthanakvasis, the 15th day) of each lunar month, and three times a year on the 14th day of the fourth month (caumaasi caudasa), and annually on samvatsari, the holiest day in the Jain calendar (late August or early September).
Every year paryusana, an eight-day sacred period of forgiveness and austerities, is observed. Digambars celebrate this festival as dasa laxani parva, for ten days, concentrating on the ten virtues of the soul.
Annual and Lifetime Obligations
The Sraaddhavidhi prescribes the laity to perform at least once a year the following eleven duties, and once in a lifetime some special duties (Vajrasen ed. 1996: 317, 336). It advises if it is impossible to perform these duties individually, one should perform them collectively with others.
Service to the Order (sangha pujaa): One should venerate the fourfold order by respectfully providing for the needs of ascetics, e.g. clothing and books, and offering gifts to laypeople of the sangha.
Reverence to Co-religionists (saadharmika bhakti): One should show reverence to co-religionists by inviting them into one's home for meals, and help them by providing both material needs and spiritual guidance.
Triple Pilgrimage (yaatratnika): This ritual of triple pilgrimage consists of participation in pujans and festivals for the veneration of the tirthankaras; participation in the chariot processions and religious festivities of the temples; and participation in the Jain pilgrimage to important sites such as Satrunjay, Sammet Sikhara, Girnar and Pavapuri.
Veneration by Anointing an Image (snaatra pujaa): A Jain is expected to perform snaatra pujaa at least once a year. Jain tradition believes that this pujaa of veneration to the Jina is the re-enactment of the ritual performed by celestial beings at the birth of a tirthankara.
Fund raising for Temples (deva dravya): Laypeople are expected to contribute, or motivate others to contribute, funds for the maintenance, renovation and construction of temples
Elaborate Pujans (mahaapujaas): These elaborate pujans involve the decoration of images of the tirthankaras, the decoration of temples and their surroundings and the recitation of elaborate sacred sutras. The pujans are planned to encourage the devotees to participate in temple worship, although many visitors are attracted by the spectacle. Devotion throughout the Night (raatri jaagaran): This devotion involves worshippers singing hymns and performing religious observances throughout the night on the designated holy day, and on the anniversary of the birth or death of prominent ascetics.
Veneration of Scriptures: (sruta pujaa): This devotional ritual involves pujaa of the scriptures by making symbolic and monetary offerings to the goddess of the scriptures, and putting the scriptures on public display.
259