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JAIN MANTRAVADA AND CAITYAVASIS : WORSHIP OF MANTRA-DEITY 169
The worshippers read or hear from Sadhus the biography of Srīpāla from Sripālarāsa a work composed by Upadhyāya Sri Vinayavijaya and the famous Jain logician Upādhyāya Sri Yasovijaya about s. y. 1738. The Siddhacakra worship is completed when it is performed nine times i. e. for nine periods of nine days. It thus takes four and a half years to complete. When completed each worshipper celebrates it by offering special worship and distributing gifts amongst the wor. shippers. One of the places believed to have been visited by the legendary King Srīpāla, who is described as an ideal worshipper of Sri Siddhacakra, in course of his voyage, is believed to be the town "Sopāraka", not far from Thānā. In fact at Thānā, a temple of Sri Navapada alias Sri Siddhacakra is being constructed to commemorate this visit as a result of the preachings of Sri Jinațddhisūri and his learned pupil Sri Gulābamuni. A large Siddhacakrayantra is represented there in the form of a large many-petalled lotus carved in stone. WORSHIP OF MANTRA-DEITY NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH
KARMA-PHILOSOPHY We may here refer the readers, desirous of knowing the Jain view as to how Mantra acts, to the writer's view set forth at p. 35 et seq.; and also draw their attention as to how Mantravāda which is essentially Adhidaivikavāda merges ultimately into Adhyātmikavāda. One may question as to how the Jains who are staunch believers in the philosophy of Karma reconcile with it Mantravāda or Adhidaivikavāda. How can a Mantra-deity make anyone happy or otherwise ? We do not desire to tax our reader's patience with any philosophical discussion about the matter. To explain we would only cite what Yasodevasūri, pupil of Sri Candrasūri, says in his commentary (written in S. Y. 1180) on Pakkhisūtra (P. 72) as to why Śstadevatā or Sarasvati sould be worshipped. The worship of 16 Vidyādevis 64 Indras, atten
* Thănă also appears to be an old town. It is mentioned in the commentary of Sri Malayagiri (who flourished circa 1160 to 1220 of the Vikrama era) on Sri Vyavahāasūtra, I Uddeśāka P. 127.
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