Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra
by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words
This is the English translation of the Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Charita (literally “The lives of the sixty-three illustrious People”), a Sanskrit epic poem written by Hemachandra in the twelfth century. The work relates the history and legends of important figures in the Jain faith. These 63 persons include: the twenty four tirthankaras , the t...
Notes on the fourteenth day (tithi)
Parikṣīṇapuṇyacaturdaśīka: This puzzling expression is explained in Jamb. 45, p. 202b, Bhag. 144, p. 174, and Uv. 2. 95, n. 186, though Hoernle misses the point of the commentary here. The fourteenth day (tithi) is auspicious (contrary to the general Hindu belief), and a ‘full’ fourteenth is especially auspicious, whereas a fourteenth that is lost is inauspicious.
A tithi theoretically should he about 24 hours, but the actual length varies from about 21½ hours to about 26 hours. Ordinarily, a tithi begins on one day (solar) at any hour and ends on the next. For civil purposes the tithi current at sunrise is the one counted for the day, and a ‘pūrṇatithi’ is one that is current at sunrise and extends to the next sunrise. But sometimes a short tithi falls within the limits of a solar day and does not touch any sunrise, in which case it is eliminated. It is called ‘kṣayatithi’ and is considered inauspicious. From the Hindu point of view the tithi that extends beyond the second sunrise is also inauspicious. See The Indian Calendar, pp. 3. ff.