The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources c8.99

c8.99

§ 69. The supposed duration of human life goes far beyond any experience whatever, as has been mentioned before. For together with animals furnished with five senses they may live to reach 3 *paliovama*, thus surpassing the Vāṇamantara-and the Joisiya-Gods by the double. The Bhavanavāsi-gods, however, come up to about 2 *sāgarovama*, and both the inhabitants of hell and the Vemāṇiya even up to 33. The figures referring female gods are lower. One particle of earth will reach 22,000 years, one particle of water 7,000, one particle of wind 3,000, and a plant 10,000. One particle of fire will live for three days and nights at the longest, a two-sensed being for 12 years, if it has three senses for 49 days, and if four for six months. This lifetime (Pannav. 4) is called *thii*, and this word is even used where later authors speak of *bhava-sthiti* in contrast to the *kāya-sthiti* which means the sum of all existences sharing the same characteristic feature following each other (§ 93).