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Āryikās: The Digambara Sadhvis
ācāryabhakti, in praise of the perfect ācārya;
pañcagurubhakti and pañcamahāgurubhakti,53 in praise of the parameṣthins;
655
tirthankarabhakti, in praise of the tirthankaras;
śāntibhakti, in praise of the tirthankara Śāntinātha;
samādhibhakti, in praise of the state of perfection of the jinas;
nirvāṇabhakti, in praise of the places where Mahāvira, Adinātha and other tirthankaras attained nirvāṇa;
caityabhakti, in praise of the sanctuaries where the tirthankaras are venerated - sanctuaries of stone and marble and also those constructed mentally by fervent devotion;
nandiśvarabhakti, in praise of the sanctuaries of the fifty-two mountains of the island of Nandiśvara where the tirthankaras are venerated;54
virabhakti, in praise of Mahavira.55
53 This text in Prakrit was probably composed by Kundakunda; it belongs to the rite of samayika.
54 The island Nandiśvara is the 8th island of the in-betweeen world; it has 52 mountains, upon each of which is erected a temple. A realm of enjoyment frequented by the gods. At certain periods of the year, when the tirthankaras are being celebrated, the gods repair to the temples on these mountains, while here below, simultaneously, men vencrate these temples in honour of the tirthankaras; cf. SthS 307 and JSK II, p. 503; U.P. Shah, 1955, ch. 11.
Jain Education International
55 Cf. Jñanamati, 1976, pp. 54-55, where the distribution of the various bhaktis among 13 important vidhis is shown. We indicate here the type of rites performed by the aryikās. Most of these Sanskrit bhaktis are attributed to Pujyapada. For the texts, cf. Daśabhaktyādisaṁgraha; Dharma-dhyanadipaka; Sāmāyika;Sāmāyika-bhāṣya. Furthermore, there exist several bhaktis in Präkrit attributed to Kundakunda; cf. Upadhye, PSa, Introd.,
pp. 25-27.
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