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 - On desires and experiences
Q. 105. Bhante! Are desires (kāma) with or without form?
A. 105. Gautama! They are with form, not without.
Q. 106. Bhante! Are desires conscious or unconscious?—
A, 106. Gautama! They are both.
Q. 107. Bhante! Are desires life or non-life?
A. 107. Gautama! They are both.
Q. 108. Bhante! Are desires generated in animate or if in inanimate, beings?
A. 108. Gautama! They are generated in animate, not in inanimate beings.
Q. 109. Bhante! How many types of desire are there?
A. 109. Gautama! Desires are of two types, viz., desire for sound and desire for shape.
Q. 110. Bhemte! Are experiences (bhoga) with or without form?
A. 110. Gautama! They are with form, not without.
Q. 111. Bhante! Are experiences conscious or unconscious?
A. 111. Gautama! They are both.
Q. 112. Bhante! Are experiences life or non-life?
A. 112. Gautama! They are both.
Q. 113. Bhante! Are experiences generated in animate, or in inanimate, beings?
A. 113. Gautama! They are generated in animate, not in inanimate, beings.
Q. 114. Bhante! How many types of experience are there?
A. 114. Experiences are of three types, viz., experience of smell, of taste and of touch.
Q. 115. Bhante! Hbw many types of desire and experience (kāmabhoga) are there?
A. 115. Gautama! They are of five types, viz., sound, shape, smell, taste and touch.
Q. 116. Bhante! Do five-organ beings desire? Do they experience?
A. 116. Gautama! They both desire and experience.
Q. 117. Bhante! Why do you say so?
A. 117. Gautama! They desire because of the organs of vision and audition; they experience because of the organs of smell, taste and touch. Hence I say so.
Q. 118. Bhante! Do infernal beings desire? Do they experience?
A. 118. Gautama! They do both, and this holds, till the Stanitakumāras.
Q. 119. Bhante! What about the earth bodies?
A. 119. Gautama! The earth bodies do not desire, but they experience.
Q. 120. Why is it so?
As 120. Gautama! They experience because they have only the organ of touch. This holds, till plant life. Even the two-organ beings experience with their organs of taste and touch. Also the three-organ beings experience with their organs of smell, taste and touch.
Q. 121. And what about the four-organ beings?
A. 121. Gautama! They desire as well as they experience.
Q. 122. What’s the reason for this?
A. 122. Gautama! They desire with their organ of sight and they experience with their organs of smell, taste and touch. The rest like five-organ beings, till the Vaimānikas.
Q. 123. Bhante l Of living beings who desire as well as experience, who neither desire nor experience, and who experience only, which ones are the smallest in number, till especially more?
A. 123. Gautama! Smallest in number are those who desire and experience; infinite times more are those who neither desire nor experience; and still infinite times more are those who only experience.
Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):
Q/A. 110. Bhoga has been rendered as ‘enjoyment’. It should be read both in positive and negative senses throughout the text.