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 4 - On tinge, outlook, etc., of infernals
Q. 180. Bhante! How many have been stated to be the tinges of the infernal beings in the Ratnaprabhā hell?
A. 180. Gautama! (Only) one—ash.
Q. 181. Bhante! (Denigens of) the Ratnaprabhā hell with ash tinge, are they in possession (of anger, etc.)?
A. 181. Gautama! 27 forms118.
Q. 182. Bhante! Are these (denigens, etc.) in possession of right, outlook, of wrong outlook, of mixed outlook?:
A. 182. Gautama! All the three.
Q. 183. Bhante! Are these (denigens, etc.) in possession of right faith?
A. 183. 27 forms. And that too of wrong faith. In, mixed faith, 80 forms.119
Q. 184. Bhante! Are these (denigens, etc,) in possession of knowledge? Are they without knowledge?
A. 184. Gautama! (Both) in possession of knowledge and without knowledge. Those with knowledge have, as a rule, three types of knowledge, and those who are without knowledge have three corresponding ignorances120.
Q. 185. Bhante! Are these (i.e., the denigens of the Ratnaprabhā hell), who have knowledge derived from sense perception, in possession (of anger, etc.)?
A. 185. Gautama! 27 forms, with three types of knowledge, and also with three (corresponding) types of ignorance, are to be stated121.
Q. 186. Bhante! These (as aforesaid)—are they in possession of activities of mind, of speech, of body?
A. 186. All the three122.
Q. 187. Bhante! These (as aforesaid) with activities of mind—are they in possession of anger?
A. 187. 27 forms, and so of those with activities of speech, and of body.
Q. 188. Bhante! These (as aforesaid), are they endowed with detailed cognition, or with cursory cognition?
A. 188. Gautama! Both with detailed cognition and with cursory cognition.
Q. 189. Bhante! These (as aforesaid) endowed with detailed cognition—are they in possession of anger?
A. 189. 27 forms. Also 27 forms for those endowed with cursory cognition123. The above (as stated of the Ratnaprabhā hell) is true of the seven hells. Difference is only in tinges124.
Couplet:
First two (impart) ash tinge,
The third a mixed type, (ash with blue)
The fourth blue only,
The fifth a mixed one, (blue with dark)
The sixth imparts a tinge dark
And the seventh pitchy black.
Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):
118. Infernal beings in the first hell take ash tinge and they take 27 forms.
119. The consideration is about outlook, of which, three have been named. Those with right outlook and those with wrong outlook take 27 forms each; those with mixed outlook, who are few, and who are sometimes found and sometimes not found, take 80 forms.
120. The consideration about knowledge names three types, with three corresponding types of non-knowledge or ignorance. Infernals who are already in possession of stability are born in the first hell with avadhi knowledge. Hence, as a rule, they possess mati, śruta and avadhi knowledge. Infernals who are with wrong outlook might previously have been beings with or without mind. Had they been with mind, in that case, as they arrive in the first hell, they have, from the genesis, avadhi ignorance too. In case they had no mind previously, at genesis in the first hell, they have only two ignorances, mati and śruta; but after a while, they take avadhi ignorance. Hence it is said that these take sometimes two types of ignorance and sometimes three. Hence in the first hell, knowledge types are, as a rule, three, but ignorance types may be two or three.
121. The word ‘tinni’ is used again to imply that they take 27 forms only when avadhi knowledge/ignorance goes with mati knowledge/ignorance and śruta knowledge/ignorance: in the absence of avadhi knowledge, they invariably take 80 forms.
122. All infernal beings in the first hell have all the three activities—of body, mind and speech.
123. Upayoga is the capacity of the soul to fed, accept or enjoy, cognition in brief. Some of the infernal beings in the first hell are endowed with full cognition (sākāropayoga), while others are with very little of it, or are without it (anākāropayoga). According to some, knowledge is full cognition: vision is limited cognition. Both take 27 forms.
124. Consideration of all items about the first hell is to be repeated for the remaining six, the only exception being about tinges.