Part 4 - With senior monks from the order of Pārśva

In that period, at that time, some senior monks who were the spiritual progenies of Arhat Pārśva came to Śramaṇa Bhagavān Mahāvīra, and having come, they stood at a reasonable distance from the Lord, i.e., neither very near nor very far, and submitted as follows:

Q. 178. Bhante! In the limitless sphere, have there been an infinite number of nights and days, are there an infinite number of nights and days, and will there be an infinite number of nights and days³⁸? And have these (infinite number of nights and days) been lost, are these lost, will these be lost? Or, have there been a limited number of nights and days, are there a limited number of nights and days, and will there be limited number of nights and days? And have these (i. e., nights and days) been lost, are thṛse lost, will these be lost?

A. 178. Āryas! In the limitless sphere, there are an infinite number of days and nights, etc., as stated by you.

Q. 179. Why so,... till will these be lost?

A. 179. Āryas! Arhat Pārśva, the most respected of men, ordained the sphere to be eternal, without a beginning and without an end, innumerable (from the standpoint of its constituent pradeśas) and encircled (by non-sphere), extended at the base, slender at the centre, and vast at the top; of the shape of paryaṅka at the bottom, of the shape of a mighty vajra (thunder) at the centre and of the shape of an up-turned mṛdaṅga at the surface. So it is. The sphere is eternal, without a beginning and without an end, innumerable and encircled, extended at the base, slender at the centre and vast at the top, of the shape of a paryaṅka at the bottom, a vajra in the centre and an up-turned mṛdaṅga at the surface. An infinite multitude of beings (ananta jīva-ghana)⁸⁹ are born, and being born, they die (and transform); and likewise, an unlimited multitude of beings (paritta-jīva-ghana) are born, and being born, they die (and transform). The sphere exists as ever wherein there are births, deaths and transformations. It is because of these (births, etc.,) that the sphere comes to notice.

—Does the sphere take its name as loka because it has become lokita (conspicuous) on account of these (i.e., birth, etc.)?

—Right you are, oh Bhagavantas! It is for this reason, Āryas, it has been said that the sphere is eternal... (state as before).

From that day, the senior monks of the order of Arhat Pārśva accepted Śramaṇa Bhagavān Mahāvīra as all-knowing and all-seeing, whereon the senior monks paid homage and obeisance to Śramaṇa Bhagavān Mahāvīra, and having paid homage and obeisance, they prayed as follows:

—Bhante! Desire we to accept under thy guidance the religion of the Five Vows, with pratikramaṇa added, in lieu of the religion of the Four Vows⁴⁰.

Whereon ordained the Lord:

—Oh beloved of the gods! Do as it may suit thee, but delay not.

Thereon the senior monks of the order of Arhat Pārśva,...till some of them became perfected at their last respirations,...till ended all misery, while others were born in heavens.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

38. The point at issue is that while the sphere is asaṃkhyāta, nights and days are ananta, the latter being, by all means, bigger than the former. If that be so, how does a bigger thing enter into a smaller thing?

The argument is a tautology. In a big building, there may be a thousand lamps burning, and no one would express any doubt about it. In the same manner, in unlimited space there may exist an infinite number of souls. If this be admissible, then, why not infinite nights and days in a sphere which is unlimited?

39. The Sūtra (179) gives following adjectives for loka: śaśvata (eternal); anādi (without a beginning), ananta (without an end), and so on.

Two types of jīvaghanas have been described, viz. ananta and paritta. Jīva has been called ghana beause it combines in itself infinite categories and unlimited pradeśas. Jīvaghanas are ananta (without an end) because they continue to exist in a kārmaṇa body even after the death of a being, and also because they live through successive generations of their progenies. Jīvaghanas become partita when they are compared to their succeeding generations. Time also becomes ananta and paritta according as jīvaghanas become ananta and partita.

40. Mahāvīra propounded the religion of five vows. This was initially propounded by Ṛṣabha. During his time, śramaṇa religion was thus based on five vows. But under the 22 Tīrthaṅkaras following him, śramaṇa religion was based on four vows. The position has been explained on the ground that the monks during the Tīrthaṅkara-hood of Ṛṣabha were simple and ignorant, and so they needed elaborate guidance for which the vows were five. During the days of Mahāvīra, however, the monks had become crooked and crafty so that they needed rigorous tightening up in every detail for which the vows became five again. But under the remaining 22 Tīrthaṅkaras, the monks were simple and wise so that four vows sufficed.

The Ācārāṅga makes a distinct reference to Mahāvīra’s religion of five vows. We have references to Pārśva’s religion of four vows and Mahāvīra’s religion of five vows in the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra.

Jacobi has given the following interpretation regarding the latter text:

“The argumentation in the text presupposes a decay of the morals of the monastic order to have occured between Pārśva and Mahāvīra and this is possible on the assumption of sufficient interval of time having elapsed between the last two Tīrthaṅkaras and this perfectly agrees with the common tradition that Mahāvīra came 250 years after Pārśva.”

Though Jacobi’s interpretation of the significance of the addition of celibacy to the list of vows finds general acceptance, an alternative view is that Mahāvīra added non-possession, and not celibacy. They attribute this addition to Mahāvīra’s going about the country without clothes. According to this school, Mahāvīra felt that the ascetic could free himself from all desires only when he got rid of all clothes which were, so to say, the last fetters of the worldly objects. Non-possession meant the giving up of home and kith and kin, and having nothing to sustain one’s life.

On the addition of pratikramaṇa, we have the following from the commentator:

sapaḍikkamaṇo dhammo purimassa ya pacchimassa ya jiṇassa majjhimagāṇam jiṇāṇaṃ kāraṇajāe paḍikkamaṇaṃ.

[The religion of the first Tīrthaṅkara as that of Mahāvīra prescribed pratikramaṇa as compulsory; the religion of the remaining 22 Tīrthaṅkaras prescribed pratikramaṇa only when there was occasion for it. In Mahāvideha, too, pratikramaṇa is not compulsory, and is prescribed only when there is occasion for it.