Ancient Jaina Hymns

Author(s): Charlotte Krause
Publisher: Oriental Institute

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INTRODUCTION
ed to one or the other or to all of them. A special favourite among them is the Lord Simandhara, to whom one of the hymns published below, is addressed. He is believed to live at present, in the full possession of omniscience, in the Vijaya “Puşkaravara" of the Pūrvavideha of Jambu-dvīpa, having a body-height of 500 dhanu (=2,000 cubits). As our poem recalls to mind (st. 16 ff.), he was born in the city of Pundarikiņi in the period intervening between the Nirvāņa of Kunthu', the 17th, and that of Ara, the 18th Tirthankara, which latter is supposed to have taken place about 1 of a palyopama of years, i. e., aeons, ago. He renounced the world in the interval between Munisuvrata, the 20th, and Nami, the 21st Tirthankara, obtained omniscience subsequently, and is destined to attain Nirvāṇa by the time when the 7th Tirthařkara of the coming Utsarpiņi of the Bharata of Jambu-dvipa, Udaya, will have attained salvation, i. e., millions of years hence?
Thus much about the Tirthaikaras collectively. As regards the individual Tirthankara (also designated as Arhant or Jina), he is, as has already been hinted at, so free from passion that not even traces of the four "kaşāyas”, viz., anger, deceit, pride and greed, mar the perfect peace of his mind. The omniscience which he has achieved, in fact presupposes the complete annihilation of the four types of "obnoxious karman" ("ghātikarman'') which Jaina metaphysics assumes, viz., (1) karman obscuring knowledge, (2) karman obscuring vision of mind, (3) karman preventing ethically correct
(1) Kunthu is believed to have been born ; palyopama, 66 lakşa, 79 millennia of years and 89 fortnights previous to the beginning of the 5th "ara".
(2) For further data re. Sīmandhara vide Ratnasamuccaya-grantha'? Publ. by Seth Manekchand Pitambardas, Hubli, V. S. 1985, p. 202, st. 517 ff.
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