Ages
Sushama-dushama
Also Known As The Third Ara
Position 3 in Its Cycle
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Sushama-dushama is the third of the six ara of the avasarpini, the descending half of the beginningless Jain cosmic time cycle, a transitional age more happy than unhappy, the point at which decline becomes noticeable. Jain doctrine holds that liberation, moksha, is possible only during this ara and the one following it, Dushama-sushama, out of all twelve ara in the full cycle. This entry names its position in the cross traditional cycle of world ages this atlas already tracks; the doctrine page elsewhere in this atlas carries the fuller treatment of the avasarpini and utsarpini cycle itself.
Facts
Identity
SymbolNo individual glyph marks the age on its own; Jain tradition instead pictures all twelve ara of the avasarpini and utsarpini together as spokes on a single wheel of time, kalachakra, with Sushama-dushama occupying the third spoke of the descending half. 1 Dating
Proposed DatingMeasured in sagaropama, an inconceivably large unit of cosmic time, at two crore of crore sagaropama by Jain reckoning. No source in the tradition attempts a calendar conversion, and the atlas does not invent one. 1 Attributions
TraditionJain cosmological texts including the Tattvartha Sutra and its commentaries, which set out the avasarpini's six ara. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
The third of the six ara of the avasarpini, one of only two ara in the full twelve ara cycle in which Jain doctrine holds liberation possible.
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