Trishasti Shalaka Purusa Caritra Part 2

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Helen M Johnson
Publisher: Oriental Research Institute Vadodra

Page 50

PREVIOUS INCARNATION AS VIMALAVĀHANA 25 He practiced penance, the ekāvali, ratnávali, kanakávali, and sinhanihkridita long and short.61 Beginning destruc
61 302. These penances, which take the form of fasts, are, with the exception of ekāvali, described in Antagadadasāo 8, B. pp. 98 ff., and in Pravac. 1509 ff., pp. 435 ff. Muni Jayantavijayaji described ekāvali to me, with reference to the Tapävali (published by K. R. Jhaveri at Surat), which is not available to me. The fasts are a series of fasts of a number of days with a meal taken after each one. In this connection it is to be noted that Indians themselves do not count as a fast-day a day on which they eat at all. In my note, I, n. 93, I described the more usual fasts, caturtha, şaştha, aştama. They are really fasts of 48, 72, and 96 hours respectively, and I translated them accordingly as 2, 3, and 4 days' fasts. But the Indians themselves do not count at all the preliminary day on which one meal only is taken nor the day on which the fast is broken by one meal. A caturtha is one upavāsa, or a one-day fast, şaştha is two upavāsas, etc. For a clear understanding of these fasts the commentary to Pravac., pp. 435 ff., is the most useful, but as the commentator himself points out, there are discrepancies between the Pravac. and the Antagadadasão which should be given the preference because of its seniority. According to the Antagadadasão, the ratnāvali. series is as follows: 1, 2, 3, 8X2, I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 34 X2, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 8X2, 3, 2, 1. This gives 384 fast-days and 88 fast-breaking days, or a total of 1 year, 3 months, and 22 days to complete the series. The complete penance consists of 4 series, which cover 5 years, 2 months, and 22 days. During the first series, the fast-breaking includes all kinds of delicacies (viksti); in the second, they are not permitted ; in the third, the food, such as wheat, chick-peas, etc., is without dressing; and in the fourth only ācāmla is permitted (Pravac. 436a).
The kanakāvali is just the same with the substitution of 8 X3 and 34 x3 in the place of 8 X 2 and 34X2. One series lasts for I year, 5 months, and 12 days and the complete penance lasts for 5 years, 9 months, and 18 days. The Pravac. exchanges the ratnāvali and kanakāvali. In B.'s calculations in his footnotes he does not distinguish between the fast-days and fast-breaking days, but counts each fastbreaking day in with its fast. The net result is the same.
The ekávali is the same as the kanakāvali and ratnāvali with the substitution of 8XI and 34 X I. One series lasts for 1 year, 2 months, and 12 days, and the complete penance for 4 years, 9 months, and 18 days. The sinhanihkridita is so called because a moving lion looks over the country he has traveled,' and this penance is made in similar