Obeisance to the Arhats!

Obeisance to the Liberated Ones!

Obeisance to the Religious Guides!

Obeisance to the Religious Instructors! Obeisance to all Saints in the World!

This fivefold obeisance, destroying all sins, is of all benedictions the principal benediction.

In that period, in that age lived the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, the five (most important moments of whose life happened) when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalgunî; to wit, in Uttaraphalgunî he descended (from heaven), and having descended (thence), he entered the womb (of Devânandâ); in Uttaraphalgunî he was removed from the womb (of Devânandâ) to the womb (of Trisalâ); in Uttaraphalgunî he was born; in Uttaraphalgunî, tearing out his hair, he left the house and entered the state of houselessness; in Uttaraphalgunî he obtained the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and perfect. But in. Svâti the Venerable One obtained final liberation.

End of the First Lecture.

In that period, in that age the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, having on the sixth day of the fourth month of summer, in the eighth fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Ashâdha, descended from the great Vimâna, the all-victorious and all-prosperous Pushpottara, which is like the lotus amongst the best things, where he had lived for twenty Sâgaropamas till the termination of his allotted length of life, of his (divine nature, and of his existence (among gods); here in the continent of Gambûdvîpa, in Bharatavarsha,— when of this Avasarpinî era the Sushama-sushamâ, the Sushamâ, and Sushamaduhshamâ periods, and the greater part of the Duhshamasushamâ period (containing a Kodâkodi of Sâgaropamas, less forty-two thousand years) had elapsed, and only seventy-two years, eight and a half months were left, after twenty-one Tirthakaras of the race of Ikshvâku and of the Kâsyapa gotra, and two of the race of Hari and of the Gautama gotra, on the whole twenty-three Tîrthakaras had appeared,— the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvirâ, the last of the Tîrthakaras, took the form of an embryo in the womb of Devânandâ, of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, the wife of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta, of the gotra of Kodâla, in the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma in the middle of the night, when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalgunî, after his allotted length of life, of his (divine) nature, and of his existence (amongst gods) had come to their termination.(2)

The knowledge of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra (about this) was threefold; he knew that he was to descend, he knew that he had descended, he knew not when he was descending

In that night in which the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra took the form of an embryo in the womb of the Brahmani Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, the Brâhmanî Devânandâ was on her couch, taking fits of sleep, in a state between sleeping and waking, and having seen the following fourteen illustrious, beautiful, lucky, blest, auspicious, fortunate great dreams, she woke up.(3) To wit:

An elephant, a bull, a lion, the anointing (of the goddess Srî), a garland, the moon, the sun, a flag, a vase, a lotus lake, the ocean, a celestial abode, a heap of jewels, and a flame.(4)