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384
A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAW
5. There was a shower of blood.1 6. There occurred a sudden earthquake and 7. A terrible storm. 8. Big trees were uprooted; 9. Peaks of mountains were falling down and 10. The lakes were drying up5. 11. The crows were crowing (vāsanti karayararavaṁ) harshly
looking up at the sune; 12. The jackals were howling in the north emitting fire sparks
from their mouth;? 13. The horses were neighing harshly and were trembling their
necks;8 14. The elephants were trumpeting fright-fully and striking the
earth with their trunks and finally, 16. The idols of the deities were shedding tears.10:
Dreams : -Similarly the ancient people had great faith in the efficacy of dreams. The traditional belief was that the birth of a great person was associated with some auspicious dream-visions and the mothers of the sixty-three illustrious persons of the Jaina mythology saw some dream-objects infallibly at the time of conceiving the embryos of those persons.
It is mentioned in the Paumacariyam that Marudevi and Padmavats at the time of conceiving the embryos of Tirthankara Rşabha and Munisuvrata respectively saw fourteen dreams. (caud asasumine 21.1) The objects of those dreams were an elephant (gaya), a bull (vasaha), a lion (sīha), the Lakşmi (abhiseya or varasiri), a flower-garland (dāma), the moon (sasi), the sun (diņayara), a flag (jhaya), a pitcher (kumbha), a lotus-lake (paumasara), the sea (sagara), a heavenly palace (vimāņa-bhavana), a heap of gems (rayanuccaya) and the fire (sihi) (3.62 and 21.13). Aparājita (25.2) at the time of conceiving in her womb, the embryo of Padma (Rāma), the eighth Baladeva, had the dream-visions of four objects viz, a bright-flower
1. Br-Samh, 46, 40, 43. 2. Ibid, 32.32; Bhad-Samh, 13.70; 14, 49. 3. Ibid, 39.2; Ibid, 13.70; 14; 49. 4. Ibid, 46.25; Ibid, 14,42; 5. lbid, 46,50; Ibid, 13.121. 6. Br-Samh, Ch, 95. 7. Ibid, Gh, 90. 8. Ibid, 93. 5; Bhad-Sanh, 14 157. 9. Bhad-Samh, 13, 161, 10' Bx-Sanh, 46, 8,