200

Sum an as a ,

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. Sā višá la

[SEPTEMBER, 1873.

Sarv a to bha

system of gods of this sect is a peculiar one,

dra, Man or a ma, Suprab a d dha, and

and that it has assigned a subordinate place to the Brahmanic deities. This is also plain

Sud a r Šana.”

After these celestial regions, the Dig amba ras, or pious men of the Jainas, place sixteen, and other authors twelve regions, which are arranged in eight grades above the earth. These have the following names:—A chyuta, A run a, Pr an at a and A n at ha, Sah a s

rāra, Sukra, Là n taka,

Brahma,

Mahendra and S an at ku mä r a , Išān a and Sã d h fi ma .

These twelve worlds are

called Vimānas, and their inhabitants in com

mon Kalpavāsin. Lastly, the Jainas distin guish four classes of gods of low rank, namely: V aim a nika, Bhuvan ap a ti, Jyoti sh a , and Vy a n tara. The last class contains the Pi Šâ ch as, R. a kish as a s, G and h ar v as, and the remaining evil spirits and servitors of the gods of the Brahmans. The Jyotisha are, as the name implies, the stars, the planets, the moon and the sun.f The gods inhabiting the abovenamed twelve worlds belong to the V aim a ni ka s.

The class

of B h u v an a

from the circumstance that the Jainas consider

all these beings to be mortal, the Jyotis has perhaps being the only exceptions.:

Of the constitution and manner of living of the Jainas, I mean to point out only the princi pal features, as a detailed representation of the subject is foreign to the purpose now in view.

They consist of two large divisions: priests and devout persons are called Sá d hu—the good; and laymen Šrá va kas, which name, strictly meaning “hearer,” designates also an adherent of Budd h a . The names Mukt à m bara,

Mukta was a na, and Dig a m bara apply only to those members of this sect which close

ly follow the laws of nudity $. The pious obtain also the name Yati, given by Brahmans from olden times to their penitents.

The

Jainas resemble the Brahmans in the following particulars:—they admit of four castes; they sub mit to the sacred ordinances called sanskára, which commence at the birth and last till mar

p at is, i.e. lords of the worlds, consists of ten

riage; they worship some of the household gods

divisions, each five whereof are governed by

of the chief Brahmanic sects; and, at least in

the Brahmanic king of gods, In dra; in this class the Jainas reckon the A sur a ku mä ras,

the N fi ga ku m a ras, etc.; and they have, doubtless from hatred to the Brahmans, deprived their Indra of his particular servants the G and harv as and Apsar as a s. Let it

be observed in conclusion that the preceding description of the system of the gods of the Jainas abundantly proves the thesis that the

• This name occurs also among Buddhists and designates

among them a class of gods of the second dhyāna; see

Southern India, Brahmans perform religious ceremonies for the Jainas. Their festivals are peculiar, and are especially dedicated to Pär Švan à tha, the 23rd, and to Vardha

In a na or Mahā vira, the 24th Jina, in loca lities where temples are built to their memory." The Jainas erect marble, and sometimes co lossal, statues of these two Jinas.” Besides the festivals dedicated to them, they celebrate also

f Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, HI. p. 223. Also Wilson, has, ut sup. represented the mythology of the Jainas. According

Sikhar or Parasnáth in Pachete, on the frontiers of Rāmgarh, described in the Description of the Temple Qſ Pāºganºthº at Samet Sºkhar, by Lieut.-Col. William Francklin, in the Trans. of the R. As. S. I. pp. 527 seqq. On this spot this Jina obtained his deliverance, i.e. he died. There is a temple of M a håv ira, considered very sacred, near. A pºpuri, Pápa puri, or Pavapuri, in Sout. Bihār, on the spot where Mahāvīra or Vardha maj died; it is frequented by many pilgrims from distant places. In the district N a y ádà, in South Bihār, there aré three

to him, the name Kalpavāsin, refers to the circumstance

temples dedicated to this Tirthankara, and they are much

that cach of these twelve gods presides over one kalpa

frequented by Jaima pilgrims; they are described in D. scription of Temples of the Jains in South Behar anº Bhaghalpur, by Dr. Fr. Buchanan Hamilton, Tr. R. As S. I. pp. 523 seqq. In all these three temples Bh a jak Brah mans undertake to purify and to adorn them; they also receive the pilgrims. In a fourth temple at Puri the foot. steps of Mahāvira are shown to the pilgrims; here he

Ind. Alt. III. p. 391.

+ The Jainas assume, according to Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, II. p. 223, that the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars take too much time in their rotations

around Sum eru in order to appear at the right time, and therefore they double all these celestial bodies.

or period.

§ J. Stevenson's preface to his edition of the Kalpasſ tra, p. xxi.; Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, I. p. 380. The name Sådhu applies only to secular (not monastic) priests; (see below, p. 262, n. *); Dig a mb a ra—literally a man

whosegarment is space. On Sravakasee Ind. Alt. II. p. 461. | Colebrooke, in his Misc. Essays, II. p. 192, and Wilson, As. Res. XVII. p. 275. [The Priests in all the

• temples in Western

India are Brahmans.—ED. Ind.

• t. J

" Wilson, in As. Res. XVII. p. 276. There is a cele. brated temple of Pârâvan äth a on Mount Sam et a

is called Gautam a Mahá vira. A few inscriptions reserved there have been communicated by Colebrooke,

pp. 320 sera, under the title On Inscriptions at Temples

of the Jaina Sect in South Behar. They owe their origin to a pious Jaina named Sangrima Gorardhamadāsa, and

one of them bears the date Sajºvat 16S6, or 1629 A.D.

• As well as to Rishabhanātha.-ED. Ind. Ant.