Jainthology

Author(s): Ganesh Lalwani
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 84

is no where found even in the contemporary literature. The Jaina mythology enumerates 88 grahas or planets and each graha is taken as double. The names of 88 grahas are found in Thānānga, Tiloyapaņņatti and Sūryapaņņatti. Besides, the familiar names of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn the other names in the list are quite unfamiliar to the modern age. Moreover, the lists in the above three Āgamas do not concur exactly. The names of Bhaşma Rasi Graha and Bhaşma Graha only appear in the list forming part of the Thānānga while other Sūtras give different names in their places. The names of dhūmaketu also appear in all the three lists,
The probable reason for the different names in three Āgamas :
The inquisitiveness in human mind urged him since the inception to look into the night sky and study the stars round him. From his prolonged study and watching he could differentiate the innumerable stars into two categories. Stars which have no relative motion and stars which have relative motions. The first category is termed as nakşatras while the latter was defined as grahas of olden times most probably includes planets, satellites and comets. The sun and moon were considered king of stars.
It is very likely that besides the five familiar grahas as stated earlier the rest of the list comprised of heavenly bodies belonging to the class of comets The appearance of comets being rare phenomenons (not appearing regularly as other known grahas or planets) parallel studies in different places and at different times would have been carried out which resulted in different nomenclature. This is why different lists found their places in three Āgamas which were composed at different times. Thānanga being the oldest of the three and was composed not long after Lord Mahavira's nirvāṇa, certainly reflects the contemporary public opinion and therefore the name of Bhaşma Rasi Graha rightly found its reference in Kalpa Sūtra. Whatever be the name it is a fact that a comet appeared in the night of Lord Mahāvira's nirvāṇa and it was none other than Halley's comet.
Further more, if we probe deep into the subject, we find the short script of Kalpa Sūtra not only depicts the date of the appearance of the comet (Bhaşma Rasi Graha) it precisely indicates the times of its sighting. The comet as per the original version of the Kalpa Sūtra appeared at the birth nak satra of Lord Mahavira. It is well-known
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