Samayik And Chaityavandan Vidhi

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 17

1) Arihantä Loguttamä, 2) Siddhä Loguttamä, 3) Sähoo Loguttamä, 4) Kevalipannatto Dhammo Loguttamo.
The Sutra means: 'The omniscients, liberated entities, saints and the religion propounded by the omniscient are supreme.'
Lord Mahavir has considered the human life as of utmost importance, because soul can attain liberation in that life. No one else has given so much prestige to the soul. For Lord Mahavir, soul is the real deity and its full manifestation has been termed as the supreme deity. As a matter of fact, he considered every soul as the potential Paramätmä meaning the supreme entity. It has infinite potentialities which can be manifested in human life. One can gain the right perception, the right knowledge and undertake the right practice in human life. The Lords attained the state of Arihant during the human life. The purpose of calling Arihant and others as supreme is to inspire and induce ourselves to attain that level.
3) The next Sutra pertains to surrendering to such entities. After realizing that the four entities are blissful and they are supreme, one has the obvious reason to surrender to them. As a matter of fact, one would be spontaneously inclined to make the surrender. Therefore, after giving the title as Chattäri Saranam Pavajjami, which means that I am surrendering to the four entities, the third Sutra states as under.
1) Arihante Saranam Pavajjämi 2) Siddhe Saranam Pavajjämi 3) Sähoo Saranam Pavajjämi 4) Kevalipannattam Dhammam Saranam Pavajjämi.
'Saran' means surrender or refuge and 'Pavajzämi' means I am adopting.
The Sutra therefore means: 'I am surrendering to or I am adopting refuge of the omniscient, the liberated entities, saints and the religion propounded by the omniscient.'
This Sutra is worth comparing with the similar Buddhist Sutra of 'Buddham Saranam Gachchhämi, Dhammam Saranam Gachchhämi and Sangham Saranam Gachchhämi'. Except for laying down three entities instead of four, that Sutra looks identical to our Sutra. There is, however, a significant difference between Gachchhämi and Pavajjämi. Gachchhämi denotes going towards. When one says Saranam Gachchhämi, it means that he wants to surrender and is therefore taking the steps in that direction. But before he actually surrenders, there may arise factors which would prevent him from surrendering. But Pavajjami denotes the actual surrender. While going for surrendering, one may decide to turn back, but there is no such possibility after actual surrender. It is a step from which