In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

Grāmatraya (ग्रामत्रय) refers to the “three scales”, as mentioned in chapter 1.1 [ādīśvara-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism.

Accordingly, after Mahābala awakend as an incarnation of an Īśāna god

“then the gods consecrated him [viz., Mahābala: Ṛṣabha’s previous incarnation] and fanned him with chauris, and the Gandharvas sang to him with songs, sweet and auspicious. His mind filled with devotion, he arose and went to the temple, and worshipped the eternal images of the Arhats. He sang manifold hymns of praise to the Lord of Jinas, while auspicious songs with a sweet rendering of the three scales [viz., grāmatraya] were sung by the gods. [...]”.

Note: A grāma is a ‘collection of notes’, i.e., a scale. The conventional three [viz., grāmatraya] are ṣaḍja-grāma, madhyama-grāma and gāndhāra-grāma. The first two were made on earth, the third in heaven, according to the Saṅgītamakaraṇḍa 1.49 ff.

context information

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

grāmatraya (ग्रामत्रय).—n (S) The three stages of a svara or musical note, viz. base, tenor, and treble.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Traya, Grama.

Full-text: Tinagrama.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Gramatraya, Grama-traya, Grāma-traya, Grāmatraya; (plurals include: Gramatrayas, trayas, Grāmatrayas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)

Part 13: Fifth incarnation as the Īśāna god < [Chapter I]

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