Siṃhaniṣadyā
A hall of jewelled slabs a yojana square and three gavyūti high, with four crystal doors, and inside it the twenty-four Tīrthaṅkaras in their own sizes and colours.
Bharata built it as a memorial where his father had died: "a yojana square, three gavyūtis high, named Siṃhaniṣadyā" — the lion's seat — of jewelled slabs, "a jewelled head-ornament on the summit" of Aṣṭāpada. Each of its four doors is of crystal, with sixteen jewelled sandalwood pitchers standing at it; before each of four theatre-pavilions is a jewelled platform with a caitya-stūpa on it.
On the central dais stand the twenty-four: Ṛṣabha and the twenty-three Arhats still to come, made "of the respective figures, size, and color, like the Masters in person". Round them the ninety-nine brothers in precious stone, and Bharata himself, listening. At the doors the mechanical iron guardsmen. Outside, the hundred stūpas.
Three gavyūti is six thousand dhanuṣ of height. The tallest image, Ṛṣabha's, is five hundred: a twelfth of the roof. The smallest, Mahāvīra's, is seven hāth — less than two dhanuṣ. The map draws them at their own heights, and SCRIPTURE SCALE shows what "like the Masters in person" means when the Masters range over a factor of nearly three hundred.
Measurements and counts
| Plan | 1 yojana square |
|---|---|
| Height | 3 gavyūti · 6,000 dhanuṣ |
| Doors | 4, of crystal |
| Pitchers | 16 at each door |
| Pavilions | 4, each with a caitya-stūpa |
| Images | 24, in five materials |
| Also inside | 99 brothers · Bharata listening |
| At the doors | iron guardsmen |