Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study

SR No.: 022804
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nagaraj Muni
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 804
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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8. Kasyapa (14) - Kasyapa Gṛhapati lived at Rājagṛha. He became a monk in the order of Mahavira. He mastered the 11 Angas and practised severe penances. He continued to enrich his soul in the holy order for 16 years. Then he gave up his mortal frame on Mount Vipula by courting a fast unto death (15).
9. Parivrajaka monk Skandaka Mahavira moved out from Gunasila caitya, and after passing through many villages, he came to Kayangala. There he halted at a caitya named Chatrapalasaka which was on the north-eastern side. The congregation of Bhagavan Mahavira met at this place.
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Not far from Kayahgala was the city of Sravasti. There lived a Parivrājaka monk named Skandaka who belonged to the Katyāyana line and who was the disciple of Parivrajaka Gardabhāla. He was versed in the Vedas, Itihasa and Nighantu. He was a specialist in the Sastitantra of Kapila. He had mastered mathematics, phonetics, conventions, grammer, prosody, etymology, astronomy and many other profound texts produced by the Brahmanical scholarship. In the same city, there lived a Vaisalikas rāvaka named Pingala who was a follower of Mahavira. One day, be came to the cottage of Skandaka and said to him,
"Magadha (i. e., one born in Magadha) Are the spheres with limit or without limit? Are the souls with limit or without limit? Is the above of the perfected beings with limit or without limit? Are the perfected beings with limit or without limit? By what death does a being enlongen his stay in various existences, and by what death does he cut short that stay"?
On hearing these questions, Skandaka was in confusion. He did not know the correct answer. Whenever he wanted to open his lips, the answer would not come. Besides, he was not sure if his question would satisfy Pingala. Confused by his own thought, he could give no reply. He remained silent. Pingala repeated his questions with eagerness twice or thrice. But a hesitant and apprehensive Skandaka could give no reply. He lost confidence in himself. His intellect did not work.