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76
SOME JAINA CANONICAL SUTRAS
Dhārini of Amalakalpā, physical characteristics, and mental and moral qualities of Mahāvīra, the celestial mansion of Sūryäbhadeva, its beautiful pillars and opera-hall and pavilion, its manipīthu, throne, Bhadrāsana and vehicles and conveyances. The grandeur of the worship is heightened by songs, dances, and instrumental music and enlivened by 32 varieties of dramatic representations (abhinayas). These are described as Candrāvati, Sūryāvatī, the rise of the moon, the rise of the sun, and the like. The technical significance of them is not quite clear. In the Nemichandra Sūri's commentary on Uttarajjhayana (XIII) there is mention of a nātyavidhi known as Mahuyarīgiya. Names of some of the musical instruments are given in this sūtra (sec. 23).1 A list of nine materials associated with writing is also given (sec. 43).2 How far this mode of worship was consistent with the Jaina conception of austere religious life is not discussed. But the whole affair is described as a matter which concerned the celestial world. The details given of architectural varieties and decorations along with the divyanātyavidhis are important as bearing upon the development of the silpa and nātyaśāstras. Corresponding to such a description we have pictures of various celestial mansions in the Pāli Vimānavatthu, but the Pāli descriptions pale into insignificance as compared with the Jaina narration. The Buddhist stories seem to belong to a much earlier stage of the Indian literary art and they are utilized only to encourage the practice of piety among the people and not as a means of heightening the glory of the Buddha in particular.
This text is of great importance as a literary piece of work. No doubt it begins with a long and tedious story in the style of the Purāņas but the nucleus of the work as pointed out by Winternitz is really the dialogue between the king and the monk ending in the conversion of the former (Rājapraśniya Sūtra, 65-79). According to Winternitz it is a splendid and lively dialogue in which the monk endeavours to prove to the king that there is a soul (jīva) independent of the body (deha), whilst the king thinks that he has proved the contrary by means of experiment. The king says that he has caught hold of a thief who has been cut up and hacked to pieces, but no trace of any soul has been found, whilst
i Sankha, singa, sankhiyā, kharamuhi, peyā, panava, bheri, vallaki, cittavinā, sughosā, tūņā, tumbavinā, kalasiyā, veļu, magariyā, lattiyā, vamsa, etc.
? Pattaga (leaves), kambiya (wooden board), dora (thread), lehani (pen), masi (ink), lippăsaņa (inkpot), akkhara (letters), potthaya (book), sankalā (chain). (vide J. C. Jain, Life in Ancient India as depicted in the Jain Canons, p. 175).
