Kalpasutra

Author(s): J Stevenson
Publisher: Oriental Translation Fund London

Page 50

18
KALPA SÚTRA.
Gifts are also to be made in a proper vessel, such as betel-nut, cocoa-nuts, and so forth; pious dispositions are to be cherished; all worldly plans for the time abandoned; the images of those divine beings who have overcome the passions are to be worshipped, and the auspicious Assembly of Sages venerated. The body is to be placed in a devotional position for the destruction of works. Continence also is to be preserved; all show and parade are to be rejected, and money expended according to every one's means, and a religious festival observed. The book of the Kalpa Sútra should then be presented with religious reverence, that is to say, after having brought the book into the house, and the people there having continued watching all night, in the morning, having called the inhabitants of the city, and having cast on them saffron powder, and given them betel-nut, the book is to be put into the hands of a youth mounted on an elephant. The whole multitude are now to accompany it with music and singing, and to place it in the hands of the spiritual guide, for the purpose of being read, while a suitable present to procure necessaries for the reader is also to be made. He who presents the volume of the Kalpa Sútra with all these ceremonies, and com
dispositions, worship of the images of the Tirthankars, and veneration and support of the priesthood.