YJA Convention 1994 07 Chicago IL First

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

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latter substance reminds him of the pure, milky-white color which suffuses the Jina's body as he sits in the samavarasana. The abhisheka is concluded with purified water and a shower of blossoms.
Jain enters the temple, he typically wears only three simple pieces of clothing and carries a plate filled with flowers, fruit, camphor, uncooked rice, and incense. Having approached the main shrine, he will bow down, utter the Namokar litany, and circumambulate the image three times (keeping the Tirthankar always to his right). He then sits on a mat before the image and, using rice grains, forms a swastika on a plate or a wooden plank. (This ancient symbol, as we have seen, signifies the four possible samsaric destinies.) Above it he places three dots, standing for the "three jewels" (ratnatraya): true insight (samyak-darsana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and proper conduct (samyak-charitra). These three provide the means of escape from the cycle of bondage represented by the swastika. Finally, at the very top, he makes a small crescent with a dot mounted upon it; thus is suggested the uppermost portion of the universe, with the liberated soul resting just within its edge. The completed figures appears below.
Thereafter, the worshipper wipes the image dry and begins the second phase of devapuja, a ritual called arcana. Invoking the name of a particular Tirthankar represented, he pays homage by offering up eight substances: (1) water (jala), for the attainment of cleanliness; (2) sandalwood paste (chandana), for the attainment of purity; (3) uncooked rice (aksata), for the attainment of immortality; (4) flowers (pushpa), for the attainment of freedom from passion; (5) sweets (charu), for the attainment of contentment; (6) lamp or camphor light (dipa), for the attainment of omniscience; (7) incense (dhupa), for the attainment of great fame; (8) fruits (phala), for the attainment of the fruit of liberation, Moksha. Next, small amounts of all eight substances are offered together on a single plate; this gesture, called arghya, completes the second portion of the puja.
The third involves a recitation known as jayamala, the garland of victory. Here, one repeats the names of all twenty-four Tirthankars, sits in silence for a few moments, and then chants the Namokara litany as he did prior to beginning the entire ceremony. At last the worshipper moves to the fourth and final portion of devapuja, a waving of lamps before the image; this process is designated by the term arati (Sanskrit aratrika). Having thus completed his worship, the lay devotee returns home and takes his first food of the day.
By forming these symbols prior to actual worship of the Tirthankar, one shows that his puja has as its ultimate purpose the attainment of liberation. Such preliminaries completed, he performs the sthapana or abhisheka ceremony, in which holy water is sprinkled over a small image placed near the foot of the main one for this purpose. The water thus used for "bathing" the Jina must first have been strained and made pure, either by boiling or by the use of a "sterilizing" substance such as cloves. (It is thought that nonsterile water still harbors water bodies; its use would therefore entail violence, making it unfit for a sacred act.) While engaging in abhisheka, the devotee visualizes himself as Sakra (a sandalwood paste mark on his forehead signifies this role); thus his action becomes, as in the panca-kalyana ceremony, a re-enactment of the baby Jina's ritual bath atop Mount Meru. After the holy water, he pours sandalwood paste and milk over the image; the
Services similar to those just described are sometimes repeated just before the evening meal, but on a much smaller scale; they are normally restricted to an arati ceremony performed to the tune of temple music. This combination of regular morning and occasional evening worship comprises the usual pattern of devapuja for the Jain layperson.
It should be noted that for women the overall
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