Bhagavati-sutra (Viyaha-pannatti)
by K. C. Lalwani | 1973 | 185,989 words
The English translation of the Bhagavati-sutra which is the fifth Jaina Agama (canonical literature). It is a large encyclopedic work in the form of a dialogue where Mahavira replies to various question. The present form of the Sutra dates to the fifth century A.D. Abhayadeva Suri wrote a vritti (commentary) on the Bhagavati in A.D. 1071. In his J...
Part 1 - Abodes of Asurakumāras
In that period, at that time, there was a city named Rājagṛha,... till the assembly of people dispersed.
In that period, at that time, Camara, the Indra of the Asurakumāras, their king, surrounded by 64,000 Sāmānika gods, flew down in his air-chariot named Camara from the Sudharma Hall in metropolis Camara-cañcā,...entertained the Lord by staging dramatic scenes, and went away in the direction from which he had emerged.
Bhante! So saying Bhagavān Gautama paid homage and obeisance to Śramaṇa Bhagavān Mahāvīra, and having paid homage and obeisance, he submitted as follows:
Q. 37. Bhante! Do the Asurakumāras live beneath the Ratnaprabhā hell?
A. 37. Gautama! This is not correct,... till not even beneath the seventh hell,... till not beneath Saudharma-kalpa, nor beneath any other heaven.
Q. 38. Bhante! Do the Asurakumāras live beneath the world of the liberated beings?
A. 38. This is not correct.
Q. 39. Bhante! What then is the famous place where the Asurakumāras reside?
A. 39. Gautama! The thickness of this Ratnaprabhā hell is 1,80,000 yojanas. They live in the holes in the thickness11. (Give details about Asurakumāras),...till they live enjoying many divine pleasures.
Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):
11. The actual station of the Asurakumāras has been, described as follows:
uvariṃ egaṃ joyaṇa-sahassaṃ ogāhittā heṭṭhā cegaṃ joyaṇa-sahassaṃ vajjettā majjhe aṭṭhahattare joyaṇa-saya-sahasse ettha ṇaṃ asurakumārāṇaṃ devāṇaṃ causaṭṭhiṃ bhavaṇā-vāsa-saya-sahassā bhavantīti akkhāyaṃ
[Leave aside 1000 yojanas at the top, and exclude 1000 yojanas at the bottom; in the remaining portion which is 1,78,000 yojanas are located the 64,00,000 abodes of the Asurakumāras.]