Five Vows And Six Avashyakas

Author(s): Klaus Bruhn
Publisher: Klaus Bruhn

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Avashyaka II: Caturvimshatistava
The second Avashyaka is a hymn (stava) to the twenty-four (caturvimshati) Tirthankaras and therefore called "Caturvimshatistava". The Tirthankaras ("they who created the tirtha or path toward release from worldly existence") or Jinas ("the victors") are the founders of the Jaina religion. Except for the last two, however, they are not historical figures but those of a legendary antiquity. The last or twenty-fourth Tirthankara is known under the name or rather title of "Mahavira" ("Great Hero"); he was a contemporary of the Buddha (both men were teaching between 450 and 350 AD and both lived in Bihar in Northern India). Mahavira's spiritual predecessor, Parshva, lived some time earlier. The follower of the "Jinas" is called "Jaina" (hence "Jainism"). The main portion of our text (verses 2-4) contains the names of the Tirthankaras (Prakrit form to the left and Sanskrit form to the right).
Avashyaka II demonstrates the tendency toward deification of the Tirthankaras. This was to be expected in the Indian context. Already in the first centuries of our era, Tirthankara images were commissioned on a fairly large scale. Thus there was puja (image worship) -- and there was also a certain amount of bhakti (devotion), not absolutely dissimilar to bhakti as it developed in Hinduism (verses 5-7 below). However natural developments of this type may be, the official doctrine left little scope for such deviations. According to the church authorities, a Tirthankara was never more than a spiritual guide, and even this was limited to his mundane existence.
Text
logassa ujjoyagare
dhamma-titthamkare jine /
arahante kittaissami cauvvisam pi kevali
//
Usabham Ajiyam ca vande
Sambhavam
Abhinandanam ca
Sumaim ca/
Paumappaham
Supasam
jinam ca Candappaham
vande //
Suvihim ca Pupphadantam
Siyala Sejjamsa
Vasupujjam ca /
Vimalam
Anantam ca
jinam Dhammam
Santim ca
Verse 1
Verse 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Verse 3
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Translation
I shall praise them -
they who have illumined the world, the dharma- tirthankaras
(the Tirthankaras proclaiming the dharma or the true religion), the jinas, the arhats (the venerable ones), the twenty-four kevalins (enlightened ones).
Rishabha
Ajita
Sambhava
Abhinandana
Sumati Padmaprabha
Suparshva Candraprabha
Suvidhi Pushpadanta
Shitala
Shreyamsal
Vasupujya
Vimala
Ananta
Dharma
Shanti
01.04.99 12:21