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Tirthamkaras of the Future
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37
C. “Great Men" of Airāvata. For the F. Ts' names only are listed (S I, 382,
29–383,8*); the above headings are mentioned and also have to be applied to the other categories of mahāpurusas (383, 8-14).
Fragmentary but important information is contained in the ninth section of the Țhāņāmga. The three main points are :
(i) A first list records the names of nine souls contemporary with Mahävira who are destined to become Ts. in the future : samanassa nam bhagavao Mahavirassa titthamsi navahim jivehi ņ Titthagara-nāma-gotte kamme nivvattie, tam jahā : (1) Seņieņa, (2) Supāseņam, (3) Udāiņā, (4) Potfilenam aņagāreņam, (5) Dadhāuņā, (6) Samkhenam, (7) Sayaenam, (8) Sulasāe săviyāe, (9) Revaie (or 9) sāviyae Revaie). (S I, 299, 7-9).
Abhayadeva's Ț breathes life into these figures in various ways (ed. Agamodaya Samiti, p. 432b-433b). He merely points to their identities : (1) The king Sreņika is well-known (infra 1.2); Supārsva is Mahāvira's uncle.16 He relates short accounts in Sanskrit for the others (cf. 4 below), but in one case fails to do so : (5) Drdhāyur apratitaḥ. He warns against possible misunderstandings in the case of two characters bearing identical names : (4) Pottila of the Thān seems to be different from Pottila of the Anuttarovavāiya-dasão (chap. 3).
(ii) This is followed by the names of the nine souls who, according to the sūtra, will attain final Siddhi in the utsarpiņi (S I, 299, 9-12); short stories in Sanskrit are handed down by Abhayadeva (T, p. 434a-b; cf. 4).
.... (1) Kaņhe Vasudeve, (2) Rāme Baladeve, (3) Udae Pedhalaputte, (4) Potfile, (5) Sayaye gähävai, (6) Darue niyanthe, (7) Saccai niyanthiputte, (8) saviya-buddhe Ambađe parivvāyae, (9) ajjā vi ņam Supasa Pasävaccijja a gamessäe ussappiņie căujjaman dhamman pannavaittà sijjhihinti jāva antam kahinti.
According to the Ț, however, some heroes will attain Tirthamkarahood, whereas others will reach Omniscience :
eteșu ca madhyama-Tirthakaratvenotpatsyante kecit, kecit tu kevalitpena - (p. 434b). Be that as it may, a comparison with the Samav, list (see 4) shows that except for Supāsā, a disciple of Páráva's disciple (T, 434b), the eight remaining characters do occur among those destined to become F. Ts. Thus, the traditions handed down by the third and fourth Amga, though embedded in different contexts, show a general consistency: 14 names, out of 24, are common to both texts. Two, Pottila and Sataka, occur twice in the Thāņāmga.17
(iii) Sreņika's life as a F. T. (S I, 299, 13-302, 17): see 1.2.2.
Finally, a general survey of utsarpiņi-mythology is found in the Titthogāli, “The Degradation of Tirthas”18, a Prakrit work sometimes included among the Painnas. 19 According to Pandit D. D. Malvania, it must have been "completed
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