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The vow of perpetual sāmāyika and
the presentation of the insignia
Dikṣā: Consecration
The vairāgiņi returns to her place, accompanied by the guruņi and sādhvis and the rite continues with:
the performance of guruvandana to the ācārya;
the kṣetra-viśuddhi, interior purification:56 The recitation of a certain number of sutras belonging to the rite of samayika,57 followed by kayotsarga;
she asks permission from her parents for the last time to receive dikṣā. Her mother, before the ācārya and the whole samgha, replies in the affirmative;
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the ācārya bids her pronounce the vow. He pronounces slowly: "kareha, sāmāiyaṁ savvaṁ sāvajjaṁ jogaṁ paccakkheha" (Make [the vow] of sāmāyika and to renounce all blameworthy action);
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she recites slowly word by word, after the ācārya: "karemi bharite! sāmāiyaṁ, savvaṁ sāvajjaṁ jogaṁ paccakkhāmi jāvajivāe . . ." (Master, I make [the vow of] sāmāyika, I renounce for life all blameworthy activity. . .);58
the ācārya recites the praṇipata-sūtra, a hymn of praise to the arhats,
56 As kṣetra means field, place, it is possible to understand this as referring also to the purification of the spot where the vairagini is standing.
57 Up to this moment the vairāgiņi is still a śrāvikā and thus recites the sutras which belong to the rite of sāmāyika as performed by śrāvikās. Among the sädhvis, however, the sāmāyika-sūtra is included in the rite of the ǎvasyakas.
Jain Education International
58 Cf. P 315 ff.; 700. This is the section of the sutra which consecrates and formally binds the sadhvi and she repeats the words of the sutra after the ăcărya to its conclusion.
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