________________
702
The Unknown Pilgrims
Permit me to approach you. 18 [I so permit). Abandoning (all sinful activity). I touch your feet with my body (the forehead or the right hand).19 Pardon me for the inconvenience (thus caused). Has the day passed with [physical] well-being, without fatigue? [(It has passed) thus.] Does your spiritual journey (pursue its course?) (And yours, does it also pursue its course?] Are your senses well-mastered?20 [Yes.) Compassionate Śramana, I ask pardon for the transgressions of the day. (I too ask pardon.) I repent (of my faults concerning) the āvaśyakas. Compassionate Sramana, for all lack of integrity, for all faults committed at any time, of mind, speech and body, due to anger, pride, dishonesty or covetousness, for all pretence, for all negligence in regard to the ten dharmas,21 for all such offences caused today by lack of respect,22 I am heartily sorry, I abhor them, I condemn them, I
presence or in front of the sthapanācārya. The Sthānakavāsi sadhvis address it also to the guruņi. The Terapanthi sādhvis facing the particular place in which the ācārya is located, recite the sutra of the lesser guruvandana, then this same sutra to the leading sādhvi of the group and to the other sādhvis. The Murtipūjāka sådhvis recite the lesser guruvandana as salutation to the guruņi The responses of the ācārya (or guruņi) are given in brackets, for they do not figure in the AvaS and are not spoken nowadays.
18 Lit. "Allow me to penetrate a certain distance within the avagraha (space occupied by the guruņi).
19 The sādhvis, adopting the ūkadū posture, i.e. that of the cowherd milking his cow, pronounce each syllable of each word slowly and emphatically, with heads bent and hands joined: "a-ho-ka-yam..." The sādhvis touch the right foot of the guruņi, but when it is a question of the acārya, the touch, which is a gesture of respect, takes place internally.
20 As before and maintaining the same posture, each syllable is pronounced slowly and deliberately: "ja -tta - bhe..."
21 Cf. P 360 ff.
22 Lit. caused by one or other of the 33 āśātanās, failures with regard to proper respect, deference; cf. DasasS III, 2.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
