Page Text
________________
242 THE END OF THE ROAD Tirthankara when he preaches; besides these, the Jaina assign to him an enormous list of attributes. A Tīrthankara, for example, is worshipped by the sixty-four Indra, and has thirty-five special qualities of speech, and thirtyfour pertaining to his body, which is distinguished by one thousand and eight specified marks. We shall probably, however, gain a better idea of the Jaina's real conception of a Tirthankara, not by working through this long bare list of qualities, but by studying one of their prayers of adoration —that surest mirror of a man's mental picture of his god. The writer's Sthānakavāsī friends tell her that every morning and evening during Paạikamaņuṁ they worship the Tirthankara in Gujarāti words which may be rendered as follows:
You I salute at various times, the Lord Arihanta. What kind of a Lord is He? He knows what is passing in your mind and my mind. He knows what is passing in the mind of every man. He knows what is going on at various times. He sees all the fourteen worlds as though they were in his hands. He is endowed with these six qualities: boundless knowledge, insight, righteousness, austerity, patience, strength. He is endowed with thirty-four kinds of uncommon qualities. He is endowed with speech. He is endowed with thirty-five kinds of truthful speech. He has one thousand and eight auspicious marks. He is free from the eighteen sins and endowed with the twelve good qualities. He has destroyed four of the hardest karma, and the four remaining karma are powerless. He is longing to get mokşa. He dispels the doubts of souls with yoga. He is endowed with body, with omniscience, with perfect insight, and has the before-mentioned righteousness. He has the highest kind of sankita, which is permanent; he has Suklaleśyā, Sukladhyāna, Suklayoga; he is worshipped, adored and saluted by the sixty-four Indra. He is the most learned pandit. He is endowed with these and other endless qualities.'
We have seen that a Tirthankara has still four karma left which bind him, and until these four do actually snap, the jiva which began its upward journey, perhaps from a clod of earth, has not yet reached its final goal. When by
1 i. e. Bhavya jiva, those souls who will eventually obtain mokşa.
Siddha.
| SR No. | 011099 |
| Book Title | Heart of Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Mrs Sinclair Stevenson |
| Publisher | Mrs Sinclair Stevenson |
| Publication Year | 1915 |
| Total Pages | 365 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 29 MB |