Repetition In Jaina Nrative Literature

SR No.: 269673
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Klaus Bruhn
Publisher: Klaus Bruhn
Total Pages: 49
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 6 MB

Page 23

Repetition in Jaina narrative literature
49
all the 24 Jinas (first table, first page = Jinas 1-9, first table, second page = Jinas 10-24). We have reproduced the first page of the first table (fig. 9).
At the beginning of the prakarana we are given 16 āryās (vss. 4-19) which enumerate the 170 sthānas: bhava (1), dīva (2), khitta (3), / tad-disi (4), vijaya (5), puri (6),
nāma (7), rajja (8), guru (9), suttam (10) // jina-heu (11), sagga (12), āum (13), / terasa shāņāi puvva-bhave // [4]
Sthānas 1-13 are all concerned with the previous existences of the Jinas. They form a block so to say and all appear in the first table of the above-mentioned Kalpasūtra edition (fig. 9). The first sthāna is bhava, i.e. « number of all existences mentioned in the biography of the respective Jina — last existence as Jina included ». In many cases the bhavafigure is « 3 » (see fig. 9), and this is also the minimum. It seems that moksa accounts (see § 7 supra) favour such a triple patterning:
(a) flash-back: human existence
(-2) name ex. as a god
(-1) no name human ex., last ex. = present ex. (-0) name (b) prophecy: human ex.= present ex.
(+0) name ex. as a god
(+ 1) no name human ex., last ex.
(+ 2) name optional Our tabular accounts can be seen in the context of formula (a), because the present existence is the starting point (hence the term pūrvabhava for the previous existences). Sthāna 1 refers to the totals, while sthānas 2-11 and 12-13 are concerned with pūrva-bhavas « -- 2 » (human existence) and « 1» (existence as a god) respectively. The bhava totals for the 24 Jinas are as follows:
13 bhavas
No. 1 (Rşabha) No. 8 (Candraprabha) No. 16 (Sāntinātha) No. 20 (Munisuvrata) No. 22 (Ariştanemi) No. 23 (Pārsvanātha) No. 24 (Mahāvīra) Nos. 2-7, 9-15, 17-19, 21