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316
S. B. DEO
pattam na vāëi), reading only one out of the two identical (sarisaga) passages, or doing so in a low tone was not allowed.560
It seems that all attempts of deliberate obstructions in the reading of the texts arising out of loss of faith were suppressed, and the student was allowed to ask questions only in a restricted manner. He was not permitted to ask more than three questions (pucchā) regarding the 'kälikaśruta' (texts meant to be read at a particular time), and not more than seven queries regarding the text Ditthivāya (Drstivāda).561
With these restrictions imposed on them, the students, it seems, studied by sitting in a circular fashion (maņdalī).
Penance and Fasting :
It may be noted that the principal types of penance remained the same, for the same details regarding this item of monastic life, as given in the Angas, are to be found in the Chedasūtras and other texts of the Svetāmbara Canon
The two-fold division of penance, 562 the minor and major fasts,563 the details about 'padimās', 564 etc., even though referred to in the post-Anga texts, are the same and hence not repeated here again.
Supernatural Powers :
Inspite of the ban on the use of spells and magical powers by monks as given in the Acārānga, the post-Anga texts and the Niryuktis refer to a number of such practices resorted to by monks.
It was said that there were some monks whose nasal oozings (khela) had the power of curing all diseases. There were others whose bodily dirt (jalla), bodily excreta or sweat (vippa), and touch (āmosa) acted as remedies for bodily ailments. Some had wonderful memory inasmuch as they could reproduce the rest of the sūtra by hearing only one word, or one line of it. Their speech had the sweetness of milk (khira), honey or ghee. There were some who had the power of feeding hundreds of people without owning or knowing anything of cooking.565 Some could transform their forms (viüvvaņiddhipatta), and some could fly in the air (cāraṇa).566
560. Nis. 19, 17ff. 561. Ibid., 19, 9-10. 562. Dśv-N. 47-48. 563. Aup. p. 54; Pinda-N. 668; Acar.-N. 214. 564. Daśā. VIII; Vav. 9, 31-35; 10, 1; Avašyyaka-N.v. 496; Aup. pp. 54, 58. 565. 'Akkhữnamahāṇasī,' also in Avaśyaka-N. 766ff. 566. Aup. pp. 51-54; also Avaśyaka-N. 769.
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