Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/292

 260 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [September, 1873. Sumanasa, Savisala Sarvatobha- dra, Manorama, Suprabaddha, and Sudarsana.* * * §After these celestial regions, the Digamba- ras, or pions men of the Jainas, place sixteen, and other authors twelve regions, which are arranged in eight grades above tho earth. These have the following names :—A c h y u t a, Aruna, Pranata and Anatha, Sahas- rfira, Sukra, La n taka, Brahma, Mahendra and Sanatkumara, Isana and S a d h a m a. These twelve worlds are called Vimdnas, and their inhabitants in com¬ mon Kalpavdsin. Lastly, the Jainas distin¬ guish four classes of gods of low rank, namely : Vaimanika, Bhuvanapati, Jyoti- s Ii a, and Yyantara. The last class contains the Pisachas, Rakshasas, Gandhar- v a s, 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 Yaimunikas. The class ofBhuvana- p a t i s, i. c. lords of the worlds, consists of ten divisions, each five whereof are governed by the Brahmanic king of gods, I n d r a; in this class the Jainas reckon the Asurakumaras, the N agakumaras, etc.; and they have, doubtless from hatred to the Brahmans, deprived their Indra of his particular servants the Gandharvas and Apsarasas. 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 among them a class of gods of the second dhyana; see Ind. Alt. III. p. 391. t The Jainas assume, according to Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, II. p. 223, that tho sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars tako too much time in their rotations around S u m e r u in order to appear at the right time, and therefore they double all these celestial bodies. X Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, II. p. 223. Also Wilson, has, ut sup. represented the mythology of tho Jainas. According to him, the name Kalpov&sin refers to the circumstance that each of these twelve gods presides over one kalpa or period. § J. Stevenson’s preface to his edition of the Kalpastitra, p. xxi.; Colebrooke, Misc. Essays, I. p. 380. Tho name 8 & d h u applies only to secular (not monastic) priests; (see below, p. 262, n. ^[); D i g a m b a r a—literally a man whosegannont is space. On SsrAvaka see Ind. Alt. II. p. 461. H Colebrooke, in his Misc. Essays, II. p. 192, and Wilson, As. Res. XVII. p. 27o. [The Priests in all the Jaina temples in Western India aro Brahmans.—Ed. Ind. Ant. j Wilson, in As. Res. XVII. p. 276. There is a cele¬ brated temple of P&rsvan&tna on Mount Samota system of gods of this sect is a peculiar one, and that it has assigned a subordinate place to the Brahmanic deities. This is also plain from the circumstance that the Jainas consider all these beings to be mortal, the Jyotishas perhaps being the only exceptions. J Of the constitution and manner of living of the Jainas, I mean fo poipt 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 S a d h u—the good; and laymen Sravakas, which name, strictly meaning “ hearer,” designates also an adherent of B u d d h a. The names Muktambara, Muktavasana, and Digambara 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 sanskdra, which commence at the birth and last till mar¬ riage ; they worship some of the household gods of the chief Brahmanic sects ; and, at least in Southern India, Brahmans perform religious ceremonies for the Jainas. Their festivals are peculiar, and are especially dedicated to Parsvanatha, the 23rd, and toVardha- mana orMahilvira, the 24th Jinat 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 Stkharor PnrasnAth in Pachcte, on the frontiers of Ramgarh, described in the Description of the Temple of Par.ivanOtha at Samct Stkhar, by Lieut.*Col. William Francklin, in the 7runs, o f the R. As. S. I. jp. 527 seqq. On this spot this Jina obtained his deliverance, t. e. ho died. There is a temple of M a h A v ? r a, considered very sacred, near Apftpuri, PApapuri, or Pavapuri, in South Bihar, on the spot where MahAvtra or Vardhamfina died ; it is frequented by many pilgrims from distant places. In the district N a v A d A, in South Bihar, there are three temples dedicated to this Tirthankara, and they are much frequented by Jaina pilgrims ; they aro described in De¬ scription of Temples of the Jains in South Dehor and Bhayhalpur, by Dr. Fr. Buchanan Hamilton, Tr. R. As. S. I. pp. 523 seqn. In all these three temples B h d j a k Brah¬ mans undertake to purify and to adorn them ; they also receive the pilgrims. In a fourth temple at Purl the foot¬ steps ofMahAviraan' shown to the pilgrims; here he iacalled Gautama M ah A vi ra. A few inscriptions reserved there have been communicated by Colebrooke, . pp. 320 seqq. under the title On Inscriptions at Temples of the Jaina Sect in South Bchar. They owe their origin to a pious Jaina named SanyrCima GovardhanadAsa, and one of them bears the date Sahiv'it 1686, or 1629 a.d, • As well os to RishabhanAtha.—Ed. Ind. Ant.
 * This name occurs also among Buddhists and designates