An Investigation Of Textual Sources On Samavasarana

Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: Nalini Balbir

Page 11

NALINI BALBIR
AN INVESTIGATION OF TEXTUAL SOURCES ON THE SAMAVASARANA
87
the reverse). The quarters allotted to each group depend on the direction from where they enter the sacred space after a complete pradaksina:
Entry Quarter Beings East South-East ganadhara.s, kevalin.s, monks having spe
cial powers (labdhi.s) and all types of knowledge except Omniscience, other
monks, Vaimānika-goddesses, nuns. South South-West Goddesses of the following three classes:
Bhavanavasin, Jyotiska, Vyantara West North-West Gods of the following three classes: Bhava
navāsin, Jyotiska, Vyantara North North-East Vaimānika gods, men, women The sequence of directions of entry underlines the importance ascribed to the eastern direction which is the starting point of the circle. On the spiritual level it corresponds to the most advanced stage. It is therefore the place from where the religious community enters, in an order which reflects the level of the different groups: The ganadhara.s are the closest to the Jina in space as they are close to him from the point of view of their knowledge and behaviour; the elder one must be very close (vs. 14cd). Our tract introduces a hierarchy among the members of the religious community." Some features of this location of different groups are difficult to explain. If it is possible to understand why the Vaimānikas are separated from other groups of gods, since they are normally said to have more ability for right faith, the fact that their gods and goddesses side with human beings is puzzling. The place of the Vaimanika goddesses after the monks but before the nuns may suggest that they are closer to spiritual achievement than the nuns. Why the directions other than east correspond to the groups of gods / goddesses remains an unanswered question. The insistance is on an organization based on triads. The fact that only the north-eastern and south-eastern groups are mixed (males and females together) is explicitly stated (vs. 23).
The hierarchy is based not only on the places in the respective quarters, but also on the posture (standing / scated) which determines a sub-hierarchy within certain groups. It is explicitly stated for the north-eastern group: only the male
members of the religious order are allowed to sit, while both the Vaimanikagoddesses and the nuns stand: hayanti, na nisidanti, as the Av. cürni says (327.8-9). The fact that no clear specification is given in the case of other groups (only thayanti: "take their positions"? or "stand?" is used) has slightly annoyed Haribhadra, and is also a problematic issue for some later sources (cf. 2.1.5):
arra ca mulasika-karena Bhavanaparidevi-prabhinam sthanam nişidanam va spaståksarair noktam, avasthana-matram eva praripaditam, pūrvácaryopadesa-likhitaparrakadi-citrakarma-balena tu sarvă eva devyo na nişidanti, devah purush striyas
ca nişidantiti praripadayanti kecana ity alam prasangena (Haribhadra 233b.1-3). We note, en passant, that in order to sort out this point Haribhadra clearly refers to the existence of iconographic material and to its being based on an old tradition (pür. vācāryāpadeśa-likhita-patraka), which indicates that already in his time (8th cent.) the representation of samavasarana was common.
The middle and outer circles are of decreasing sanctity. Their organization seems to be a little looser. The middle circle is allotted to animals, and the outer one is the place for all vehicles, especially those of the gods (vs. 25ab). The freedom is even greater outside the compound, where the choice between segregation and mixture is possible (vs. 25cd), and where all categories of beings may be represented: according to the commentators, vi in tiriya vi) means "also gods and human beings". However, the general striking and original feature of the samavasarana is its religious (/spiritual)-based organization, in accordance with the basic principles of the Jain doctrine and its favouring of a teaching meant for all (pravacana), conversely, its avoidance of any social criterion: according to our tract, all human beings take their places in the same quarter (north-east), which supposes that they are all able to progress. The interpretation may have slightly changed later on: a late samavasaranapatta has in its legend the words frävaka and frávika, i.e. Jain lay-followers, instead of a generic term (nara / nari; manuyā, etc.).
1.4.2. Ritual aspect of the samavasarana.
The final phase of the samavasarana is the occasion for a curious magico-religious rite. The Prakrit term malla in deva-malla / mallånayana, vs. 1) used for its designation in the verse-programme is apparently an hapar legomenon and perhaps some kind of taboo-word. The Av.-curņi (332.13) understands devamalla as a chrono
Most textual and pictorial sources usually only distinguish the following three groups: monks, Vaimanika-goddesses and nuns. See, for instance, the samavasarana-parta in C. Caillat. Ravi Kumar, The Jain cosmology, No. 5, where the legend reads sådhu, Vaimdnikadevi, sadhvi.
Tiriya vi: api-sabdāt manusya deva api, Haribhadra and Ksemakirti.