Agam 05 Ang 05 Study Of Bhagvati Vyakhya Prajnapti Sutra

Author(s): Suzuko Ohira
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 166

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and that class and the total number of siddhas are constant, but that increase (i.e., birth rate exceeding death rate) and decrease (i.e., death rate exceeding birth rate) occur to the beings in this and that class on the phenomenal plane, and that increase alone occurs to siddhas. All these cases are again considered from the standpoint of time. Jivas in general, samsari jivas in each class and siddhas are likewise discussed as to their aspects of sopacaya (occurrence of birth), sapacaya (occurrence of death), sopacaya-sapacaya (occurrence of birth-death), and nirupacaya-nirapacaya (non-occurrence of birth-death). This text may belong to the fourth-fifth canonical stages.
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Then 1.2.23 considers the entry and departure of beings in the same gati from the standpoints of 'sunya-kala(time duration within which all beings in the same gati depart from it), asunya-kala (time duration within which no beings in the same gati depart from it, i.e., no birth-death takes place), and misra-kala (time duration within which some beings in the same gati depart from it and some beings are born in it). It offers their relative numerical strength. The Jivajivabhigama 102 touches upon nirlepa-kala of earth-beings and plant-beings, which may be the forerunner of 'sunya-kala. The Prajnapanā VI uses the terms viraha-kala and aviraha-kala in the place of śünya-kala and asünya-kala in dealing with the same problem as to the beings in this and that class. It appears that our text is a summarized account of the Prajnapana above. We place it in the fourth-fifth canonical stages.
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X.32.370-78 which form the Gangeya story discuss whether or not there is a time gap in jivas' entry into new lives and departure from their old lives. The answer forthcoming is that only the entry-departure of A' has no time gap, but that of all the rest is both with and without time gap (370-71). The text also computes how many different possibilities may arise for a single infernal being to enter all infernal regions, for two to ten infernal beings to enter there at a time, or for ananta infernal beings to enter there at a time. It then asserts that the phenomenon of rebirth as such is real but not unreal, because ananta jivas exist in the three tenses of time in the eternal profile of loka as so declared by Lord Parsva and as so realized by MV himself through his kevala jnana. XII.6.488 repeats this by referring to IX.32.370-71. All these texts are to be assigned to the fifth canonical stage.
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XII.1.469 calculates the number of hellish beings to be born in one samaya in each earth in general, and the number of those who are to be born there in one samaya qualified by the following anuyoga items : grey le'sya, krsnapaksika, suklapāksika, sanjni, asanjni, bhavasiddhi, abhavasiddhi, jnana, darsana, sanjna, veda, kaşaya, indriya, yoga and upayoga. Their minimum number is one, two or three and their maximum number is asankhyata. This is the same for the number of hellish beings departing therefrom in one moment, and as to the number of hellish beings remaining there at any given moment. The same