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463 The four types of births : By the contamination of passions the soul moves in the cycle of four types of births (cauvviha samsara or caugaio)¹. Among these that in the category of gods is the best?, birth among human beings is better than that in the third category of animals and plants ³ ; while the birth in the hells is the worst 4. Ideas pertaining to hell and heaven : In this connection it is worth while to dwell upon the data on the nature of life in the hell and in the heaven. Though otherwise completely diverging from one another, the life in the hell and that in the heaven share a common feature: the inmates of these two worlds live for a very long span of life, beyond the capability of numbers to express and imaginable only through conceptions such as palitopama and sagaropama = 5. pama There are a couple of descriptions of the life in hells, both given expression, quite naturally, on the occasion of a religious sermon 6. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 231%; also see Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 15, 271. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 15. 3. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 75, 114, 172. 5. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 76, 89, 277-78. 4. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 271-72. 6. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 172, 270-71.

464 The hells, according to Jaina belief, are seven in number; and are referred to as nirayas or pudhavis¹. The different hells and some places therein have different nomenclatures. The first, second and the seventh hells bear respectively names as Rayanappabha, Sakkarappabha. and Tamatama². A place in seventh hell has been referred to as apatitthana³. Those who intentionally or otherwise practise violence towards any living being especially, the children, the old and those who have surrendered, and the adulterers are condemned to take birth in the hell 4. Such beings an have an unmanifested human form (aviyattamussadeha), which is diseased, deformed and extremely soiled with the dirt of sin (pavovalevamaita). The beings residing in the hell also have five pajjattis (power to intake karmic matter) suitable for such a life. They also wield superhuman powers like the knowledge of ohi with the help of which only they can see each other. In hell the beings constantly suffer from insomnia, heat and cold, and thirst and hunger. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 277-78. 3. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 113, 315. 2. Ibid. There is also a reference to Sappavatta hell. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 89. Its exact location is not known. 4. The information about the life in the hell is said to have been taken from the sacred texts (agama) and appears on pp. 270-71 of the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa

465 The horrible conditions of hell add to the grief of the inmates. The hells are so dark that their residents become aware of others only by touch. So also it is full of thorny tracts, forests of blades (asipattavana) and infested with cruel birds. The only river to water the region is the river veyarani, the water of which is salty. The asuras by name Valaya, Veyarani, Asipattasura, Sama and Sabala inflict cruel punishments such as throwing in boiling metal fluids, cutting into pieces with knives, and making the beings embrace red hot images. Corresponding to the grades of the hell, the heaven also has various stages, at the top of which is situated the Sarvatthasiddha¹. The gods attain the luster of their respective bodies, the period of their office in These heavens 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 17, 340. In between the earth and Sarvatthasiddha are situated various heavens (kappas). Accua [Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 29], Lamtaga (Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa,175], Bambha [Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa,20], Isana [Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa,329], Sohamma [Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa,130,286], have their respective heads who are titled as Imdas. In these heavens they reside with many gods in different aeriel cars (vimana)

466 heaven and the authority among other gods according to their merit in previous births¹. The gods have their wives with whom they enjoy the divine pleasures (divve kamabhoge). They also wield superhuman powers like the ohi². A god residing inferior type of heaven cannot go up without the help of a superior god ³. While other gods indulge in various types of pleasures, those in the V in an L Sarvatthasiddha keep themselves busy in observing austeAt the end of their lives rities and controls (parama-tava-niyamaniraya) 4. life as L 鉁� gods, the gods start losing their lustre and their life comes to an end by simply vanishing (addamsana) 5. Suffering and happiness in four types of births : Not only in the hell, but even during the birth in the animal and plant categories as also among human 6 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 25. 3. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 223. 2.Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 173. is 4. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 340. In this connection its significant to note that except samti, the other Titthayaras referred to in the text viz. Kunthu, Ara and Usabha are all said to reside in Sarvatthasiddha even before their birth as a Titthayara; Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 159, 340, 344, 346. 5. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 173, 223. 6. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 114. The author of Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa has taken special efforts to prove that plants are sentient. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 267.

467 beings and even among the gods 2 the soul undergoes constant suffering. Whatever happiness the soul gets in its birth as a human being or a god is not real; it just has its existence in imagination (kappanametta) 3. That h Human happiness is just nothing as compared to the sufferings, has been very well illustrated by the allegory of the 'Man in the well 4. Birth of whatever good type it may be, implies the rotating of the Persian wheel of old age, and death followed by rebirth 5.