My
trip to Pavapuri,1 the Jain tirtha or sacred
place, where the twenty-fourth and last Jaina tirthankara Lord Mahavira
attained nirvana,2 had been much delayed and,
when I finally reached there on the sixth of November, winter had just set in.
A village in the State of Bihar, Pavapuri is situated 59 miles south-east of
Patna and 54 miles north-east of Gaya. It is nine miles from the nearest town
Bihar Sharif, and is located on the Bakhtiarpur-Ranchi national highway.
Passing
along the western and the northern banks of the lotus lake and then through the
village the jeep carrying me reached a
place called Samavasaran. It had two temples with an annexe of Dharmashalas or
inns for pilgrims and was situated one mile east of the main pilgrimage spot,
the Jal Mandir. The bus route which skirted along its western and southern
compound walls proceeded to a village named Ghosrava. I was put up in a
spacious newly constructed room on the first floor in the south-eastern corner
of the Dharmashala. There were no electrical fittings and, except for two
wooden bedsteads and a mattress and pillow, the room was unfurnished. Although
electrical wiring could be seen, Pavapuri had no power supply, but the
Dharmashalas had their own generators which they ran for two or three hours in
the first part of night. Soon after dusk I realized that the generator was
installed just under my room and, apart from making a loud booming sound, it
made my room vibrate perceptibly. Except for this nuisance, which I soon learnt
to avoid by going to another part of the premises during that period, the room
was good. It had windows on three sides. From the eastern window could be seen
a small orchard of mango, papaya, banana and other trees, beyond which were the
rice fields. The golden orb of the rising sun could be seen every day. The view
of the Rajgir hills towards the south-west was obstructed by a double-story
Dharmashala building a hundred feet away.
The
place was so quiet that the slightest sound produced at the other side of the
inn would be heard as if produced in the adjacent verandah, and at night the
rumbling of automobiles plying on the Patna-Ranchi road could be heard
distinctly. However, my room was so located that the noise of visitors and
pilgrims coming and going at all hours of the day, or the constant shouts of
the caretaker hardly disturbed me. There was also the tik-tik sound of the
chiselling of the marble slabs for the temple under construction: this ceased
to be a disturbance once I got used to it. I was provided with a kerosene
lantern, a bucket and a tumbler. Tube-wells provided abundant quantities of
excellent water for drinking and washing.
Jain vegetarianism
Orthodox
Jains do not eat after sunset. This rule must be observed by all who stay here.
So at 5 pm I was called by
‘A’, the man in the charge of the inn, to dine with him. 'A’ is a devout Jain
who, apart from being a strict vegetarian, does not take even water after
sunset, does his spiritual exercise called ‘pratikramana’3 every morning and evening, and observes fast or half fast on the 8th
and 14th days of the lunar month. I was surprised to learn that he
hailed from the Burdwan district of West Bengal, and so we started talking in
Bengali, although he could speak Gujarati and Hindi equally fluently. Contrary
to my assumption that Jain population must be thin in the predominantly
non-vegetarian Bengal , he informed me that a
fair number of Jains lived in many districts of Bengal .
The
talk on the narrow dining table, which could accommodate only two metal plates,
soon drifted to the question of food, partly because, as the person in charge,
‘A’ wanted to know my eating habits and partly because Jains are very
particular about diet restrictions. He was satisfied to learn that I was a
strict vegetarian . Much like the ‘non-touchism’ of the nineteenth-century
Hinduism, vegetarianism as an offshoot of the basic principle of Ahimsa or
non-violence has become an obsession with the followers of Jainism. ‘A’ now
wanted to know whether eating fish or meat by monks was justified, and whether
Swani Vivekananda allowed it. I happened
to have some of the works of Swamiji with me. I showed him some relevant
passages in which Swamiji had expressed his views on non-vegetarianism.4 But ‘A’ would not stop even at this. He went on asking whether I ate
potatoes and onions.5 Finally I brought the
conversation to a close with a rebuff, ‘ Your religion has been reduced to some
regulations and fasting. Instead of thinking about the Ultimate Truth, you
people only think of what to eat and what not to eat, and lose your religion if
you eat potato or onion’. Only once more during my stay was the question of
vegetarianism raised, and I used that opportunity to point out to him the
exploitation of the poor by wealthy vegetarian Jains. However, ‘A’ like many
other Jains who regarded killing of insects as cruel, failed to see the greater
cruelty to human beings involved in amassing wealth.
After
food ‘A’ washed clean his metal cup and plate with water and drank the washing,
leaving not a particle of food. Later I learnt that this commendable practice
was a habit with all cultured Jains.6
I soon settled down to a daily routine which
included, among other things, going to the Jal Mandir after breakfast,
returning for lunch and spending the rest of the day at Samavasaran. The gates
of Samavasaran are closed at sundown. Hence, except once when I attended the
vesper service at Jal Mandir, I avoided being away after dusk. My morning trips
gave me enough opportunity to visit and see the various temples.
Jal Mandir
There
are six major shrines at Pavapuri. Of these the most important, most sacred and
most beautiful one is the marble memorial in the centre of the lotus lake at
the spot where the mortal remains of Lord Mahavira were consigned to flames.7 As it is situated in the middle of a lake, this shrine is called Jal
Mandir. The artificial lake is approximately 1400 feet long and 1200 feet broad
and remains most of the year filled with lotuses. This year, however, lotuses
were few but there were innumerable aquatic birds. A 600 feet long and ten feet
wide bridge of red stone connects an imposing gateway on the bank to a marble
platform in the middle of the lake. This platform, which forms the base of the
memorial, is about 120 feet square having four small domes at the four corners,
marble railings on all sides and steps descending to water level towards the
east. In the centre of this square there is a raised platform with steps on all
sides on which stands the shrine proper. The shrine faces east and has low
entrances on three sides. Inside there are three large niches which serve as
altars. On the central altar the footprints of Lord Mahavira, made of black
stone and about 14 cms long, are installed. On the two side altars are the
marble footprints of his first and fifth lieutenants, Gautama and Sudharma, who
succeeded him one after the other as the head of his monastic order. The four
domes at the four corners of the outer platform enshrine the footprints of some
of the chief apostles, chief nuns, and other saints and Acaryas. The whole
structure is built to look like the mythological celestial aeroplane . Pilgrims
and tourists are allowed to go to the shrine and offer worship from 7 am to 7 pm .
Jal
Mandir is indeed an extraordinary place. Apart from its scenic and
architectural beauty, the shrine has an unusual serenity, and the mind becomes
calm and indrawn as soon as one enters it. Here one need not, rather must not,
try to control the mind, but must relax and allow the peace and holiness of the
place to permeate one’s being.
According
to legend, Lord Mahavira spent his last caturmasya ( the four months of rainy
season when monks do not travel from place to place) at Pavapuri. On the
morning of the 14th day of the dark lunar fortnight of Kartika
(kartika krsna caturdasi) the last sermon of Lord Mahavirs began. Knowing that
his end was near, he continued to preach nonstop for 48 hours, what is now
known as the ‘uttaradhyana sutra’,
till the last quarter of amavasya (night of the new moon) when, as the Svati
constellation was in the ascendence, he entered nirvana. The gods showered flowers
and sang praises. The assembly of devotees, both lay and monastic, was struck
with grief and to compensate, as it were, for the loss of the light of
knowledge kept burning so far by Lord Mahavira, lighted innumerable lamps. This
is how, according to Jainism, the festival of Dipavali (Diwali) began.
As
the news of the passing away of Lord Mahavirs spread, people from all parts
rushed to have the last darsan of his mortal remains. The body was then carried
in a procession to a nearby spot where the last rites were performed. Later on
gods and men, according to their relative status, gathered the sacred ashes
into urns and carried them away to be worshipped. When all the ashes were
exhausted, people started collecting the holy earth of the spot and as a result
a ditch was formed, which was later enlarged into a regular lake. King
Nandivardhana, the elder brother of Lord Mahavira installed the stone
footprints of the Lord at the spot where he had attained Nirvana and also at
the spot where the last rites had been performed. These two places are now respectively the
Gaon Mandir (Village
Temple Lake Temple
It
is difficult to prove the historicity of the above events, for the earliest
inscription of AD 1203 mentions only a metal image installed by Abhayadev Suri.
However, the worn out appearance of the central footprints at Jal Mandir
suggests that they must be very old. The other two footprints are clearly of a
later date.
The Gaon
Mandir
The
Goan Mandir or Village Temple is
situated to the north-west of the village and is surrounded by a big Dharmashala. The temple
has a spacious hall (nat-mandir) with a dome the interior of which reminds one
of the Dilwara Jain temple at Mt.
Abu
To
commemorate the nirvana day of Lord Mahavira a grand festival is held on the
Dipavali night when thousands of Jains from all parts of India assemble and
offer laddus (sweetmeat balls) at the Jal Mandir, some of which may be as big
as 15 kgs each. The festival includes processions, singing of devotional songs
expressing sorrow at the passing away of the Lord, and feeding the poor and the
disabled.
The
Svetambara sect believes that Pavapuri is also the place where Lord Mahavira
delivered his first sermon in 556 B.C. and converted 4400 scholars, princess
Chandanbala and eleven of his chief apostles called ganadharas of which
Indrabhuti Gautama was the foremost.8 He also established the
dharma tirtha caturvidha sangha or the fourfold religions order, consisting of
monks, nuns, male lay devotees called sravakas and female lay devotees called
sravikas. Gautama was a Vedic scholar and a ritualist brahmin. He came with his
followers to challenge Lord Mahavira but was converted even without a debate.
He succeeded Mahavira as the head of the Jains. Some of the teachings of Lord
Mahavira are addressed to Gautama or are replies to questions put to him. It is
said that while many disciples of Mahavira of lesser eminence and even those
brought to the Jain fold by the teaching of Gautama attained moksa (liberation)
quickly even before Gautama, he himself had to wait until the passing away of
Lord Mahavira, owing to his intense personal devotion to the latter. He had
voluntarily preferred to forgo liberation in favour of devotion. To rid him of
this subtle blemish and to sever the golden thread of bondage, Lord Mahavira
sent him on a preaching mission just before he commenced his last sermon. When
Gautama, still away, learnt of the passing away of the Lord from the rejoicing
of the gods, the hidden motive of the Lord in sending away at the time of his
nirvana flashed in his mind and, freed from the last trace of ignorance, he
attained moksa (kevala-jnana) instantaneously.
The two
samavasaranas
The
site of Lord Mahavira’s delivering the first sermon is situated about one mile
east of the Jal Mandir, and is called Samavasaran. But there is yet another
place, which also goes by the name Samavasaran, opposite the entrance of the
Jal Mandir and across the road. (See area map). At this latter place there is a
mound-like structure which rises in four successive broad tiers, the diameter
of the basal platform being 32 feet. On the top there is a dome eight feet in
diameter containing the footprints of Lord Mahavira on a pedestal. I was told
that these were the original footprints which had earlier been installed by
king Nandivardhan at the original site of the first sermon. But being away from
the village, they were being neglected and dishonoured by ignorant people.
Hence these footprints were removed from the original site and installed here.
The four broad steps of the mound represent the four compartments of a samavasarana to be described presently.
This is called the ‘Old Samavasaran.’ (See photo).
A
new marble shrine or monument has been built at the original site of Lord
Mahavira’s first sermon, one mile away in 1957. The antiquity of this later
spot now called (the new) Samavasaran (where I stayed) is evident from the
still standing stupa (see photo) supposed to be built in 526 B.C. The priest of
the Samavasaran monument showed me around and described to me what a
samavasaran actually is.
According
to Jaina mythology, the king of gods, Indra, prepares an auditorium whenever
and wherever a tirthankara desires to deliver a discourse. This is called
samavasarana. It is like an enormous cone 35,000 feet high with 20,000 steps, on the top of which Lord
Mahavira sits in padmasana under a huge Asoka tree. It consists of four
concentric compartments or galleries. In the topmost gallery sit gods, monks,
nuns and lay disciples. In the next compartment there is a place for birds and
animals who sit forsaking their natural fear and hostility. The third
compartment is for vehicles and chariots of gods which, according to Jain
mythology, are living entities. The lowermost compartment actually consists of
four enormous lakes in which aquatic creatures assemble to listen to the Lord’s
sermon. The construction of the samavasarana is such that every creature
sitting anywhere is able to see the Lord facing him and, through the Lord’s
divine power, is able to understand the teachings in its own language.
Evidently, samavasarana is a symbolic conception of the integral nature of
creation and the basic spiritual harmony of the universe.
All
the above features are depicted in the marble monument in a miniature form (
see photo ), at the ‘new’ Samavasaran. It is 35 feet high and has twenty steps,
each step representing 1000 steps of the original. At the top there are four
identical life-size marble images of Lord Mahavira facing the four sides under
a big, beautifully carved Ashoka tree. The expression on the face of the image
of Lord Mahavira is most sublime. There are three concentric galleries on the
walls of which gods, monks and nuns, animals and divine chariots are depicted
at their respective places. Below these is a broad terrace with four pits on
the four sides which represent the four lakes. The whole structure is most
artistic and attractive. As I was staying in one of the rooms of the adjoining
Dharmashala, I could see how enchantingly beautiful it looked in moonlit
nights.
Thus
the samavasarana is not a temple of
the usual type. It is the earthly representation of the celestial ideal of the
basic harmony of the universe. Near this marble ‘samavasarana’ a new temple is under construction in which huge
(about twice the life-size) marble images of Lord Mahavira, Gautama and
Sudharma have been installed. There is a remarkable expression of peace, bliss,
and compassion on the face of the central, slightly bigger, image of Lord
Mahavira.
Other temples
There are two more Jain temples of lesser importance in
Pavapuri. The Digambara Jain temple surrounded by a Dharmashala is situated to
the east of the lotus lake. A Svetambara Jain temple is situated opposite the
entrance of the Jal Mandir across the road. The Jal Mandir is equally sacred to
both the sects and their devotees offer their worship here.
The village
My
daily walks up and down the serpentine asphalted road leading to the Jal Mandir
gave me a refreshing view of the open rice fields spread like a greenish yellow
carpet on both sides for miles, with clusters of palm and mango trees standing
out here and there. In the last part of my walk I had to pass through the
village Puri9 which, like any other
Indian village, is a cluster of mud huts and small brick houses arranged in a
haphazard manner. I could see men and women carrying heavy sheaves of harvested
rice on their heads, arranging them into heaps, threshing out the grains,
ricking up the straw and thatching their huts. In the low-lying area along the
road, water had accumulated to form a permanent pond which was used for fishing
by the boys of the village and for washing and bathing. (Fishing is prohibited
in lotus lake). A small ill-maintained Siva temple stands on its western bank.
There is a primary school with about 100 children, a post-office, a branch of
Punjab National Bank, a charitable dispensary and a small medical store selling
only some essential allopathic drugs. There is only one telephone in the while
village. There are a number of shops selling articles of day-to-day use. Near
the gateway of the bridge to Jal Mandir there are tea-stalls, fruit shops and
booths selling pictures, guide books and articles of tourist interest. I was
told that this village Puri is the biggest among the nearby villages with 400
families. Almost half of the population belongs to the scheduled castes. The
village itself is very dirty and the villagers are poor, My physician’s eyes
detected a number of cases of lathyrism, people walking on the roads with a spastic
gait, produced by eating a poisonous pulse called Lathyrus sativus. Owning to
the lack of a proper drainage system, waste water from the huts had flowed on
the road converting it into a veritable drain. I had to cross this portion of
the road by carefully steping on the narrow raises edge along the side.
1. Lotus Lake Svetamber
Temple Digambar Temple Temple Shiva Temple
The rich Jain community has
been pouring millions of rupees on building and maintaining marble temples but
have never paid the least attention to the village. It appeared as if heaven
and hell were existing side by side. Rich, gorgeous temples surrounded by
slums- this is the picture of many Indian tirthasthans, places of pilgrimage.
One of the many reasons for this is the common Indian teaching that that one’s
earnings should be spent first of all for God, then for saints and sages, next
for devotees, then for the poor, and last of all for oneself.10
Since it is difficult to
relegate oneself to the last place, the really needy and the poor are the ones
who are deprived of a share in a religions man’s earnings. Swami Vivekananda
has altered this order by raising the poor, the downtrodden and the sick to the
level of gods. I was reminded of an incident in the life of the Holy Mother. A
disciple once informed the Holy Mother that Ramakrishna babu, the son of the
late Balaram Bose, the great householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, had in
his will set apart a large sum of money for the service of the Lord and service
of monks. At this the Holy Mother asked him whether he had willed some money to
the service of the poor also.11 This simple incident
highlights the new dimension the advent of Sri Ramakrishna has given to the
concept of charity.
A few days later, on meeting
R.S., a senior government official of the district, I raised this topic and
asked whether something could be done to improve the condition of the village.
If the Jal Mandir was the ancient tirtha associated with a departed prophet,
the village was the modern tirtha where the living gods in greater need of
worship resided. He was of the opinion that unless the villagers themselves
took interest it was difficult to help them. Attempts had been made but failed
owing to lack of co-operation of the local people. I appreciated the truth of
his statement but maintained that though quick result could be obtained if the
local people cooperated, in the absence of such co-operation it was still
possible to generate such response and change the lives of the people through
greater and persistent effort. It was these illiterate, poor, non-cooperative
Indians, reduced to the level of brutes by centuries of slavery, that Swamiji
specially wanted to be cared for. I requested R.S. to approach the local Jain
community, if government help was not available. He agreed to do his best in
that regard.12
Respect for all religions
A Hindu monk in ochre robes
moving about in a Jain centre of pilgrimage was an uncommon site for the
villagers who were used to seeing only white-robed Jain monks. Children ran
away from me in fear, women gazed with curiosity from the fields and from their
huts, and men gossipped about my whereabouts. On the third day a group of
villagers, who had assembled in a shed, approached me as I passed by. After
exchanging greetings they asked whether I was going to the Jal Mandir and was
staying at Samavasaran. When I replied that I was, they took me to be a Jain
monk and asked why I was dressed in ochre. They were highly pleased when I said
I was a Hindu monk belonging to their own religion. Now they wanted to know why
I was going to Jain shrine for meditation. I replied: ‘ I have regard for the
prophets, saints and sages of all religions. I have attended the Christian mass
and prayed in their churches. I have also meditated in the gurudwaras of Sikhs
and even in muslim mosques, besides offering my worship at the temples
belonging to all the various sects of Hinduism. But I prefer Jain shrines for
their attractive setting, artisic and pleasing appearance, overall cleanliness
and the serene atmosphere prevailing in them.’
The
other thing which intrigued the villagers was my being allowed to stay at
Samavasaran, where non-Jains were not allowed. I counter-questioned them, ‘
Will a digambara Jain be allowed to stay at a svetambara dharmashala ?’ `Well,
there was a time when they were not allowed, when a svetambara was also not
allowed to stay in a digambara dharmashala; they were at daggers drawn’, came
the reply. ‘Isn’t it wrong?’ I asked. ‘Do they not worship the same Lord
Mahavira? Although a Hindu monk, I practise the same principles of truth,
non-violence, continence, non-stealing and non-covetousness which were preached
by Lord Mahavira and are being practised by the Jain Monks.’ Reciting from the
siva-mahimnah-stotra, I went on, ‘All these are various paths leading to the
same goal, like so many rivers reaching the same ocean through various routes,
straight or crooked.13 Why should a non-Jain not
be allowed to stay in a Jain Dharmashala if he observes the rules and
regulations and is not hostile to the Jaina faith and its basic tenets?’
Our
conversation ended here and I went my way. I did not realize then that my stay
at the Samavasaran Dharmashala had been made possible by a special permission
obtained by R.S. from its manager on the assurance that all their rules would
be observed. Jains do not allow their Dharmashalas, especially those attached
to temples to be converted into public hotels devoid of rules and religious
sanctity. This is the reason why non-Jain tourists face the problem of loding
and board in spite of there being so many Dharmashalas.
After
this talk, I ceased to be an object of curiosity, although children continued
to remain at a safe distance from me. I saw some parents teaching their
children to say ‘pranam’ to me with folded hands. One lady, to quieten her weeping
child would often tell me, ‘Sadhu Baba, take away this child with you.’ I would
smile and move on. One of the villagers who lived by the side of the road,
would meet me and talk to me often. I discussed with him the problem of village
development. He was surprised, for he never expected a monk to talk of secular
things. He frankly told me that till then he had thought that monks spent their
time only in contemplation of God. He did not know anything of the Ramakrishna
Mission and wanted to know about it.14
Ritualistic worship
I was allowed to stay at the
Jal Mandir for as long as I wished. Most pilgrims would have their darsan, do
puja, sing devotional songs and leave within a few minutes. At times a crowd of
tourists would arrive making the place noisy, but would arrive making the place
noisy, but the moment they left, peace would return. Generally on Sundays there
would be greater rush, and the limited space within the shrine would be so
crowded that I would be compelled to stay out all the time. I was amazed to see
not only tourists but devotees from all parts of India
Being
a revolt against Brahminism and Hindu ritualism, Jainism has wholly and
successfully got rid of priestcraft. I noticed priests wearing the sacred
thread at various temples, and on enquiry learnt that they were Hindu brahmins
employed by the Jains to perform the daily worship and to assist Jain devotees
to do worship. I noticed that they were treated also as paid servants by the
Jains. A certain sect of Svetambar Jains does not worship images. Hence its
members neither go to temples nor do ritualistic worship. Instead, they offer
their worship to the acarya or head of the Order. However, ritualism in a
simplified form has entered into Jainism. There are books available in which procedures
for various types of worship are described.
To
pay my respects to Lord Mahavira and to get acquainted with Jain rituals I once
did puja and evening arati at the Jal Mandir. Apart from bathing and putting on
a washed dhoti and a cadar to cover the upper part of the body, I had to tie a
cloth on my face to cover the nose and mouth. Jain men, in their white, cream
or yellow silk puja dress, look very devout. First of all, the flowers and
sandal paste sticking on the image were removed by washing with water and
rubbing, if necessity, with a brush made by tying together khus straws. Now the
image was bathed, first with milk and then with water, the priest chanting the
appropriate mantras. After this the image was thoroughly dried with the help of
five pieces of fine cloth, one after the other. The procedure upto this is
called praksalan or praksal. Now began the actual worship, which consisted of
waving incense, applying sandal paste, offering flowers, and waving the lighted
lamp. There were no preliminaries like nyasa, bhuta-suddhi etc. as in Hindu
puja. The articles of worship were purified simply by waving them once or twice
over the lighted incense stick. Sandal paste was applied on the big toes,
knees, forearms, shoulders, crown of head, forehead, neck, chest, navel and
palms in that order. For each application there was a mantra. Time permitting,
the image may be decorated with more sandal paste and flowers. A bell or a meal
gong was rung while waving the lighted lamp. Evening arati consists of only waving
the lamp, to the accompaniment of singing a hymn and ringing the bell, and
lasts only four or five minutes. Digambara Jains do not offer sandal paste and
flowers. Uncooked rice (aksata), dry sweets (naivedya) and fruits are also
offered, although I did not offer them. The rice grains are arranged on the
offering table to form a diagram consisting of a crescent on the top. Three
dots in the middle, and a swastika at the bottom. Over this diagram dry sweets
like sugarcandy and lozenges are placed. There is no custom of taking prasada:
whatever is offered goes to the Brahmin priest.
The
mantras actually consist of couplets or poems in Gujarati or Hindi which the
devotees can easily memorize. There are also a number of Pali texts which the
devotees know by heart. Most women-devotees could sing the hymns, and did the
puja themselves. It was interesting to see a lady in a group of devotees
reciting long Pali texts fluently and guiding the rest like a priest saying now
and then: ‘Now chant navkar mantra four times’, ‘now offer rice.’ Etc. The
mantra for making the final offering is in Sanskrit beginning with Om and
ending with swaha.15 I also saw a group of South
Indian Jains doing elaborate worship to each of the twenty-four tirthankaras
with Sanskrit verses and with a number of bija mantras.
End of pilgrimage
During
my sojourn I once went to Rajgir and met the aged Jain saint Sri Amar Muni. He
said that like the twelve sacred Siva temples of Hinduism famous for their
jyotirlingas, Rajgir and Nalanda too are jyotirmaya- luminous with the light of
spirituality. He advised me to meditate in the Jal Mandir at night when Pavapur
becomes intensely calm. The saint’s wish was fulfilled and, as the crowning
event of my stay. I spent the last night at the Jal Mandir. As the night
advanced, the calm started deepening and by midnight even the shouts of night
guards and the barking of dogs were silenced. One felt as if one were in a
realm beyond time and space.
Generally,
aspirants are not able to derive spiritual benefit from shrines belonging to
sects other than their own. If, however, they could attune themselves to the
spiritual vibrations of the Jaina tirthankara which pervade Pavapuri, they can
derive great benefit by doing spiritual practices here. But, as in most centres
of pilgrimages, here too various kinds of disturbance occur, and these have to
be borne with patience.
My
memorable days at Pavapuri came to an end all too soon. As the car left
Samavasaran and sped on the familiar serpentine road, I was aware of a change.
The uniform greenish yellow carpet of rice fields, which had earlier greeted
me, was no longer to be seen. In its place there stretched a gaunt landscape of
bare brown earth, relieved occasionally by the dark green of the newly sprouted
wheat, the bright yellow of mustard flowers, and the movements of tractors,
bullocks and ploughmen. The villagers had also changed. Their innocent eyes, which had once stared at
an unknown sannyasin with curiosity, were now wet with gratefulness for the now
familiar monk of the Ramakrishna Order who had brought them the life-giving
message of Sri Ramakrishna. Finally, I was conscious of a change within me too.
There was a richness of experience, and a sense of fullness and peace which
could be felt even after I returned to the din and bustle of city life.
References:
*
The author wishes to express his gratefulness to Sri Ramchhabila Singh,
Superintendent of Police, Nalanda district, who arranged to get the photographs
which are published with this article.
1
The ancient names of the place are madhyama pava and apapapuri i.e a city
without sin. It may be pointed out here that, according to some scholars, a
village named pava, in the Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh is the place where
Lord Mahavira attained nirvana.
2
In Jainism the highest spiritual attainment is called kevala-jnana which may be
equated to nirvana in Buddhism. The final liberation from the bonds of the body
at the time of its physical death is called nirvana, which corresponds to
parinirvana in Buddhism.
3
This consists of introspection. self-analysis and confession of one’s sins,
specially against ahimsa, committed during the day.
4
The passages shown him are included in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
(Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1958) Vol. 7, p.22 and Vol. 2 (1971):298
5
Orthodox Jains do not eat after sunset for fear of injuring small insects in
the darkness of night. Nor do they eat onions, potatoes and other roots and
bulbs, since their digging out of the soil entails killing of great number of
insects. They fast on the eighth and fourteenth lunar days. How relevant these
rules are to the observance of ahimsa is a debatable question. However, there
is a sound medical wisdom behind some of these rules. Interested readers are referred
to the article Jaina ahara kitana
vaijnanika by Dr. N.L. Bordia in Jinavani October, 1978 (Hindi).
6
Later I met the aged trustee of the temple trust who had taken a life-long vow
of taking only two meals a day. He told me a lot more about die, rules and
sub-rules of fasting, their merits, and about Jainism in general as it is being
practised today.
7
Jains are divided into two major sects: the svetambara and the digambara.
According to the digambara sect, Lord Mahavira attained nirvana at the place
where now stands Jal Mandir.
8 According to
the Diagambara sect, this occurred at Rajgir (Rajagrha).
9 Another
smaller village named Pava is about a mile away. The combined name of the two
is Pavapuri.
10 In Jainism the following eight types of
dana or charity in the order of merit are recognized: for god (and image of
god); for the temple; for the propagation of knowledge; for monks; for nuns;
for men devotees; for women devotees; for the disabled and the invalids.
11 Swami Saradeshananda, Sri Sri Mayer
Smrtikatha (Bengali) (Calcutta: Udbodhan Karyalaya. 1983) Pp. 223-24
12 Later on,
through the efforts of R.S., a committee of the villagers was formed for
village development.
13
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14 Later on, with the active help of R.S., the
villagers and a local journalist, a ‘Pavapuri Ideal Village Development
Committee’ was formed. The pictures of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and
Swami Vivekananda were installed at a suitable place, collective cleaning of
the lanes and drains was organized, and the inaugural function of the Committee
was held which was attended by some members of the Lion’s Club and the Indian
Medical Association. Apart from this, in the nearby village of Durgapur, a
‘Ramakrishna Seva Samiti’ was inaugurated by unveiling the portraits of the
‘trinity’, singing of arati hymns and talks on the lives and teachings of Sri
Ramakrishna and Swamiji.
15
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