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 2 - Transformation by one with a right outlook
Q. 135. Bhante! Is a monk with an advanced soul, who is deceit-free and with a right outlook, capable to transform, by dint of his vīrya-labdhi, his vaikriya-labdhi and his avadhi-jñāna-labdhi, the city of Rājagṛha, and having done so, to know and see all the forms in the city of Vārāṇasī?
A. 135. Yes, he is so capable.
Q. 136. Bhante! Does he know and see in the same form, or in some other form?
A. 136. Gautama! He knows and sees in the same form, not in some other form?
Q. 137. Bhante! Why do ye say so?
A. 137. Gautama! He has a feeling that he has transformed the city of Rājagṛha, and that having done so, he has known the forms of the city of Vārāṇasī. And his vision is unreversed. It is for this that I have said like that. Even the second statement is like that, difference being that the transformation of the city of Vārāṇasī and the knowing and seeing the forms in the city of Rājagṛha need be stated.
Q. 138. Bhante! Is a monk with an advanced soul, deceit-free and with a right outlook, capable, by dint of his vīrya-labdhi, his vaikriya-labdhi and his avadhi-jñāna-labdhi, to create, between the city of Rājagṛha and the city of Vārāṇasī, a vast cluster of towns, and having done so, to know and see the vast cluster of towns between the city of Rājagṛha and the city of Vārāṇasī.?
A. 138. Yes, he is capable to know and see.
Q. 139. Bhante! Does he know and see in the same form, or in some other form?
A. 139. Gautama! He knows and sees in the same form, not in some other form.
Q. 140. Why so?
A. 140. Gautama! He has a feeling that neither is it the city of Rājagṛha, nor is it the city of Vārānṇsī, nor a vast cluster of towns in between the two, but that this is his vīrya-labdhi, his vaikriya-labdhi, his avadhi-jñāna-labdhi, that this is bis fortune, glow, fame, strength, energy and self-exertion obtained, required and come to him. Thus his vision is unreversed. Fcr this reason, it is so, oh Gautama, and it has been stated that he knows and sees in the same form, and not in some other form.
Q. 141. Bhante! Is a monk with an advanced soul capable, without the help of external matter, to create a vast village form, a vast town form or the form of a cluster of towns?
A. 141. No, he cannot. And like this the second statement, with this difference: with the help of external matter, he is capable to transform.
Q. 142. Bhante! The said monk with an advanced soul—how many village forms is he capable to transform?
A. 142. Gautama! Keeping in view the example of a lass and a lad, or the spokes fitted into the axle of a wheel, (all) as aforesaid,...till such power has never been used, is never used, nor will it ever be used; and like this,...till a cluster of towns.
Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):
(There is no commentary available for this section).