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Antimā Śuddhi: The Final Purification
Every effort is made to help her to stay alert, conscious of the ideal she has taken for her own, right up to the last breath.13
Once the sadhvi has breathed her last, then it is the śrävakas and śrävikäs who, duly forwarned, attend forthwith to the mortal remains. The body, clothed in the garb of a sädhvi,is generally placed in a seated position within a niche-shaped structure made of fine wood; only the back part is enclosed, the three other sides being open so that the crowd can see the body. This "niche" is shaped like a cupola resting on decorated archs and pillars, which in turn are mounted on wooden supports carried by four men on the shoulder.14 The body may also be in a lying position.15 During the procession, the crowd, manifesting both grief and reverence, is close-packed right up to the place where the rite of cremation is to take place. The biographers of Sadhvi Ratnavati call this final procession 'nirvāṇa-yātrā'16 It is an important day for the local saṁgha, a special festival-day, that of the performance of the last rites in honour of a 'Śramani', 'Nirgranthi', 'Sadhvi' 'Mahāsati'.
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This type of mahāprasthāna is by far the most usual and is the normal way of concluding earthly existence, simply waiting for the vital breath to cease. However, it is not the only way. If there are weighty reasons, a sadhvi may, with the consent of the ācārya and her
13 I have not personally been present on such an occasion. These details were given me by Mahāsati Ujjavalakumāri. In the biography of Sadhvi Punya we read how she expressed the desire that someone should read her the US; weak and breathless but still clear in her mind, she mentioned to the śrāvakas, who were asking her who would take her place, the name of the one who should succeed her as pravartini; cf. Sajjana, 1960, pp. 405-406
14 Cf. the photos in the biographies of Sadhvis Ratnavati, Bălū and Candrayaśā.
15 Cf. the photos in the biography of Mahāsati Canda.
16 The procession of nirvana; cf. Śricandra, 1966, the 2 photos following pp. 96-97. The sadhvis do not take part in the procession. When the body leaves the upåśraya, they say: "O worshipper of the Three Jewels, abandon this illusory body!" (This among the Sthanakavāsis).
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