Guest guest Posted January 7, 2002 Report Share Posted January 7, 2002 M-W says --- Entry dIpAvali Meaning f. a row of lights , nocturnal illumination BhP. iv , 21 , 4 , also = %{dIpA7dI} ; %{-valiprayoga} m. N. of wk. ------ Are there earlier texts than Bhagavatha Purana refering to dIpAvaLi (festival)? Classical Tamil texts, (naRRiNai 202, akanan2URu 141, 185 et al.,) frequently refer to rows of lights arranged by townsfolk during the aRumIn2 (six star Pleiades or Karttika asterism) full moon. Has any study been done relating these two festivals? I would appreciate listers giving the brief summary of the studies and the references. Regards and Thanks, P. Chandrasekaran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 2002 Report Share Posted January 7, 2002 Perichandra wrote: > Are there earlier texts than Bhagavatha Purana refering to dIpAvaLi > (festival)? Classical Tamil texts, (naRRiNai 202, akanan2URu 141, >185 > et al.,) frequently refer to rows of lights arranged by townsfolk > during the aRumIn2 (six star Pleiades or Karttika asterism) full >moon. What does the Bhagavatha Purana say about dIpAvaLi? In Jain tradition, dIpAvaLi marks the nirvana of Lord Mahavira. Acharya Jinasen writes in Harivanshapurana of 783 AD) that the people of Bharata celebrate "Deepalika" to commemorate the Nirvana of the Jina (Mahavira). Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu can not be exactly dated, however it is recorded that it was publicly recited in 453 AD. Its composition is generally dated to several centuries earlier. It says that the King Chetaka of Vaishali along with several confederate kings, had a great lightning of lights. They said "since the light of intelligence (Vardhamana Mahavira) is gone, we will make an illumination of the material matter". Here are the quotes (in itrans): Harivansha Purana of Jinasena: jvalatpradiipaalikayaa pR^ivraddhyaa suraasuraiH diipitayaa pradiiptayaa . tadaa sma paavaanagarii sama.ntataH pradiipitaakaashatalaa prakaashate .19. tatastuH lokaH prativarshhamaadaraat.h prasiddhadiipaalikayaatra bhaarate samudyataH puujayituM jineshvaraM jinendranirvaaNa vibhuutibhaktibhaak.h .20. Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu: jaM rayaNiM cha NaM samaNe mahaaviire jaav savvadukkhappahiiNe taM rayaNiM cha nava malla{i} nava lichchha{i} kaasiikosalagaa aTThaaras vi gaNaraayaaNo amaavasaaye paaraabhoyaM posahovavaasaM paTThava{iM}su, gaye se bhavujjoye, davvujjoyaM karissaamo .127. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2002 Report Share Posted January 15, 2002 INDOLOGY, aklujkar@I... wrote: As I recall, there is an article by P.K. Gode establishing that Diipaavali is a fairly ancient festival. I do not have time to provide a precise reference, but it should not be difficult to locate the article in the volumes containing Gode's collected articles> P.V. Kane (History of Dharmashastra vol 5, pt 1, chap 10, pp 194- 210) provides a detailed description of dIpAvali. He also observes that P.K. Gode's scholarly paper in the Journal of the Ganganath Jha Institute (vol 3, pp 205-216) demonstrates the antiquity of this festival. Kane himself provides references to the festival in the Padma (6:124.4; 134.53), Vamana, Brahma, and Matsya Purana. Shrinivas Tilak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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