Vasundharamahavidya, Vasundhārāmahāvidyā, Vasundhara-mahavidya: 1 definition

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Vasundharamahavidya means something in Jainism, Prakrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

[«previous next»] — Vasundharamahavidya in Jainism glossary
Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection I

Vasundhārāmahāvidyā (वसुन्धारामहाविद्या) is the name of a work dealing with early teachers, Gods or Goddesses.—The Vasundhārāmahāvidyā (in Sanskrit) is included in the collection of manuscripts at the ‘Vincenzo Joppi’ library, collected by Luigi Pio Tessitori during his visit to Rajasthan between 1914 and 1919.—The Vasundhārāmahāvidyā is known under variant titles is typically set in a Buddhist context and written in the Buddhist sūtra style. It is known among the Buddhists of nepal but seems to have been popular with the Jains of Gujarat since at least the 17th century Jaini’s edition is based on three Ahmedabad manuscripts (having six folios each), one of which is dated VS 1695 = 1638 ce. Sucandra asks the Buddha how one regains wealth or health when they have been lost. This dhāraṇī taught by the Buddha is the solution to all evils. According to Jaini, ‘the probability remains that the work was introduced in the ritual, with the full knowledge of its alien origins, to assist the Jaina layman in propitiating the goddess of wealth on the new-year day’ (p. 33). The dhāraṇī, however, seems to have been recited ‘not in public places (i.e. the Jaina temples) but in private homes and by non-Jain teachers or priests’ (Jaini p. 34). The end of the text as in the present manuscript [of the Vasundhārāmahāvidyā] slightly differs from the printed version or from the variants recorded therein.

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Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

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