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or anointing ceremony of the Jina, and they shall be honoured with Arcana by offering Arghya, padya, etc Next to this, the acts such as punyahavacana, kalasasthapana or consecration of pitcher, pitha-sthapana, Jina-pratima-sthapana, Avahana and Arcana of the image of Jina shall take place Thereafter the ten Dikpala Devas or guardian deities of ten quarters shall be invoked, honoured with Arcana and shall be requested to prevent any of the obstacles that may arise This shall be followed by Prasasti Mantra Vacana which comprises praise of Jina and well-wishing for the Sanghas of Muni, Aryika, Sravaka and Sravika After this the Abhiseka performance shall take place
This Abhiseka usually shall be performed with five amrosia like materials and hence is known by the term 'Pancamrtabhischa' The Abhiseka performance shall commence with 1) 'Jalabhiseka' e, pouring on the Jina image the water that shall have been kept in a pitcher while kalasa-sthapana was being made earlier This shall be followed by Abhiseka with (2) tender coconut water and also with juices of sugar-cane and of other different kinds of fruits, (3) Ghee, (4) milk and curds Now the image shall be smcared with powders to remove oiliness and then it shall be given a bath with kasaya waters prepared out of pieces of barks of milky trees Next shall follow (5) Gandhabhiseka, i e, anointing with water mingled with sandle paste These Abhisekas shall be made one after the other each one being intervened by an Arcana Finally the Abhiseka performance shall be concluded with Santijalabhiseka Through out the performance of the puja, Mantras, which constitute partly directions how a particular act should be performed and partly the praise of Jina or a deity shall be recited Almost all of these Mantras, it should be noted, exhibit poetic skill and beauty
After the Abhiseka performance, there shall take place the Astavidharcana or worshipping with eight kinds of materials namely (1) water, (2) sandle paste, (3) unbroken rice, (4) flowers, (5) eatables, light, (7) incense, (8) fruits and finally followed by an Arghya, (offering of all the eight materials together), Santıdhara (pouring water in a continuous thin stream) and puspanjali (offering hand-ful of flowers) Usually there shall be a series of Astavıdharcanas, the first one normally being that offered to Navadevatas constituted of (1) Arahanta, (2) Siddha, (3) Acarya, (4) Upadhyaya, (5) Sarvasadhu, (6) Jinadharma, (7) Jinagama, (8) Jinacaitya, and (9) Jinacaityalaya This shall be followed by Astavıdharcana offered to Caturvimsati (twenty four) Tirthankaras unitedly Afterwards there shall be Astavidharcana offered to one or some of the Tirthankars separately This shall usually be succeeded by the Astavıdharcana offered to Bahubalı, well known by the appellation 'Gomateswara' Next to this shall take place the Arcana of Srutadevata or the personified deity of Agama and in this Arcana two more articles namely cloth and jewels are added Afterwards the Astavidharcana of Ganadharas and Nirgrantha-Munis shall take place This shall be succeeded by the Arcana of several deities or Jinasasana Devatas such as Yaksas and Yaksis, which, when considered
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