Bhaktamara Stotra
Bhaktamara Stotra is a famous Jain Sanskrit prayer. It was composed by Acharya Manatunga; the name Bhaktamara comes from a combination of two Sanskrit names, "Bhakta" and "Amar". The prayer praises the first Tirthankara of Jainism in this time cycle. There are forty-eight verses in total; the last verse gives the name of the author Manatunga. Bhaktamar verses have been recited as a stotra, sung as a stavan, somewhat interchangeably. Other Jain prayers have taken after these. Bhaktamar stotra word by word meaning in hindi. Https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1RdKg9zmOevWA40Z7aXK4boUHN2I9GtF4 According to legends, Manatunga Āchārya was chained and imprisoned by the local King Bhoja. Mantunga Āchārya composed this stotra in the prison. With the completion of each verse, a chain broke. Manatunga was free. Legends associate Manatunga with a ruler named Bhoja; however Manatunga lived a few centuries before Raja Bhoja of Dhara. He is identified by some scholars as Kshapanaka, one of the Navaratnas in the court of legendary Vikramaditya.
An unidentified Sanskrit poet Matanga, composer of "Brahaddeshi" on music theory, may have been the same person. Bhaktamara stotra was composed sometime in the Gupta or the post-Gupta period, making Manatunga contemporary with other navaratnas like Kalidasa and Varahamihira. Several spots near Bhopal and Dhar are traditionally associated with Manatunga. Bhaktamara Stotra is believed to be at least a thousand years old, though many believe it to be still older. Bhaktamara Stotra has been passed down from generation to generation, it is an ageless panegyric. The importance and effectiveness is believed to have increased with the passage of time. Bhaktamara Stotra is recited by many with religious regularity; the original Stotra is in Sanskrit and written in Devnagiri script. The Bhaktamar Stotra has 48 stanzas; every stanza has four parts. Every part has 14 letters; the complete panegyric is formed by 26 88 letters. It is said that some specific stanzas are miraculously effective for fulfilment of different purposes.
Bhaktamara stotra is illustrated in paintings. At the Sanghiji temple at Sanganer, there is a panel illustrating each verse; the verses of Bhaktamar are thought to possess magical properties. A mystical diagram, yantra, is associated with each verse. "Sadhak Shivaanand Saraswati" has painted a number of yantras associated with Bhaktamar stotra. There is a temple at Bharuch with a section dedicated to its author Manatunga; the Bhaktamara Stotra is composed in the meter "Vasantatilka". All the fourteen syllables of this meter are divided between short and long syllables i.e. seven laghu and seven gurus and this belongs to sakvari group of meters. It is believed that such an equal division into short and long syllables will help an aspirant attain the state of equanimity the meter itself serving as a catalyst. Jain, Vijay K. Acharya Amritchandra's Purushartha Siddhyupaya, ISBN 9788190363945 Dundas, The Jains, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
Shravanabelagola
Shravanabelagola is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 144 km from Bangalore. The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas in Jainism, one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural activity under the patronage of Western Ganga dynasty of Talakad. Chandragupta Maurya is said to have died here in 298 BCE after he became a Jain monk and assumed an ascetic life style. Shravanabelagola is located at 11 km to the south-east of Channarayapatna in the Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district of Karnataka, it is at a distance of 51 km south-east of Hassan, the district centre. It is situated at a distance of 12 km to the south from the Bangalore-Mangalore road, 18 km from Hirisave, 78 km from Halebidu, 89 km from Belur, 83 km from Mysuru, 144 km from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka and 222 km from Mangalore; the sacred places are spread over two hills and Vindyagiri among the village at the foothill.
Shravanabelagola "White Pond of the Shravana" is named with reference to the colossal image of Gommaṭa - the prefix Śravaṇa serves to distinguish it from other Belagolas with the prefixes Hale- and Kodi-, while Beḷagoḷa "white pond" is an allusion to the pond in the middle of the town. The Sanskrit equivalents Śvetasarovara and Dhavalasarasa used in the inscriptions that support this meaning; some inscriptions mention the name of the place as Beḷgoḷa, which has given rise to another derivation from the plant Solanum ferox. This derivation is in allusion to a tradition which says that a pious old woman anointed the colossal image with the milk brought by her in a gullakayi or eggplant; the place is designated as Devara Beḷgoḷa "White Pond of the God" and Gommaṭapuram "city of Gommaṭa" in some epigraphs. Shravanabelagola has two hills and Vindhyagiri. Acharya Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya are believed to have meditated there. Chandragupta Basadi, dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya, was built there by Ashoka in the third century BC.
Chandragiri has memorials to numerous monks and Śrāvakas who have meditated there since the fifth century AD, including the last king of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. Chandragiri has a famous temple built by Chavundaraya; the 58-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshwara is located on Vindyagiri Hill. It is considered to be the world's largest monolithic statue; the base of the statue has an inscriptions in Prakrit, dating from 981 AD. The inscription praises the king who funded the effort and his general, who erected the statue for his mother; every twelve years, thousands of devotees congregate here to perform the Mahamastakabhisheka or Mahamastakabhisheka, a spectacular ceremony in which the statue is anointed with Water, Rice flour, Sugar cane juice, Sandalwood paste and gold and silver flowers. Mahamastakabhisheka was held in 2018 during feb month; the next Mahamastakabhisheka will be held in 2030. The statue is referred to as Gommateshwara by Kannadigas, but the Jains refer to the same as "Bahubali".
Shravanabelagola, nestled by the Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri Hills, protected by the monolith Bhagwan Bahubali, home to over 2,300 years of Jain heritage, is a veritable picture postcard of our history and heritage spanning the centuries. In the town of Shravanabelagola, stands a colossal rock-cut statue of Lord Gommateshwara Shri Bahubali. About eight hundred odd inscriptions which the Karnataka Archeological Department has collected at the place are Jaina and cover a extended period from 600 to 1830 A. D; some refer to the remote time of Chandragupta Maurya and relate the story of the first settlement of Jains at Shravanabelagola. That this village was an acknowledged seat of learning is proved from the fact that a priest from here named Akalanka was in 788 A. D. summoned to the court of Himasitala at Kanchi where having confuted the Buddhists in public disputation, he was instrumental in gaining their expulsion from the South of India to Ceylon. More than 800 inscriptions have been found at Shravanabelagola, dating to various times from 600 AD to 1830 AD.
A large number of these are found in the Chandragiri and the rest can be seen in the Vindhyagiri Hill and the town. Most of the inscriptions at the Chandragiri date back before the 10th century; these inscriptions include texts in the Kannada. The second volume of Epigraphia Carnatica, written by B. Lewis Rice, is dedicated to the inscriptions found here, it is said to be the oldest Konkani inscription. The inscriptions are written in Halegannada characters; some of these inscriptions mention the rise and growth in power of the Western Ganga Dynasty, the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysala Empire, the Vijayanagara Empire and the Wodeyar dynasty. These inscriptions have helped modern scholars to understand the nature and development of the Kannada language and its literature. On August 5, 2007, the statue at Shravanabelagola was voted by the readers of Times of India as the first of the Seven Wonders of India. 49% votes went in favor of the statue. 1. Akkana Basadi: This was built in 1181 A. D. Akkana Basadi has 23rd Tirthankara Parshwanath as main deity of the temple.
2. Chandragupta basadi: This was established in the 9th century; the middle cell of this temple has the figure of Parshvanatha, the one to the right the figure of Padmavathi and the one to the left the figure of Kushmandini, all in a seated posture. 3. Shantinatha Basadi:This temple is dedicated to Shantinatha, it was built around 1200 A. D. 4. Parshwanatha Basadi: This is a beautiful structure with decorated outer walls. The
Karnataka
Karnataka is a state in the south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973; the state corresponds to the Carnatic region. The capital and largest city is Bangalore. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the northeast, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, Kerala to the south; the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the sixth largest Indian state by area. With 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the classical languages of India, is the most spoken and official language of the state alongside Konkani, Tulu, Telugu, Malayalam and Beary. Karnataka contains some of the only villages in India where Sanskrit is spoken.
The two main river systems of the state are the Krishna and its tributaries, the Bhima, Vedavathi and Tungabhadra in North Karnataka Sharavathi in Shivamogga and the Kaveri and its tributaries, the Hemavati, Arkavati, Lakshmana Thirtha and Kabini, in the south. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward. Though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning "elevated land". Karu nadu may be read as karu, meaning "black" and nadu, meaning "region", as a reference to the black cotton soil found in the Bayalu Seeme region of the state; the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval India; the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day.
Karnataka has contributed to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. The economy of Karnataka is the third-largest state economy in India with ₹15.88 lakh crore in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹174,000. Karnataka's pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have been found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prompting scholars to hypothesise about contacts between ancient Karnataka and the Indus Valley Civilisation ca. 3300 BCE. Prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed; the decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas and the Western Gangas, marking the region's emergence as an independent political entity.
The Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi. These were the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription and a fifth-century copper coin discovered at Banavasi; these dynasties were followed by imperial Kannada empires such as the Badami Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta and the Western Chalukya Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Deccan and had their capitals in what is now Karnataka. The Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of the 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of the 11th century; the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region. Literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture.
The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under its rule. In the early 14th century and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district; the empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, which it controlled for over two centuries. In 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota; the Bijapur Sultanate, which had risen after the demise of the Bahmani Sultanate of Bidar, soon took control of the Deccan. The Bahmani and Bijapur rulers encouraged Urdu and Persian literature and Indo-Saracenic architecture, the Gol Gumbaz being one of the high points of this style. During the sixteenth century, Konkani Hindus migrated to Karnataka from Salcette, while during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Goan Catholics migrated to North Canara and South Canara from Bardes, Goa, as a result of food shortages and heavy taxation imposed by the Portuguese.
In the period that followed
Ethics of Jainism
Jain ethical code prescribes two dharmas or rules of conduct. One for those who wish to become ascetic and another for the śrāvaka. Five fundamental vows are prescribed for both votaries; these vows are observed by śrāvakas and are termed as anuvratas. Ascetics observe these fives vows more and therefore observe complete abstinence; these five vows are: Ahiṃsā Satya Asteya Brahmacharya Aparigraha According to Jain text, Puruşārthasiddhyupāya:All these subdivisions are hiṃsā as indulgence in these sullies the pure nature of the soul. Falsehood etc. have been mentioned separately only to make the disciple understand through illustrations. Apart from five main vows, a householder is expected to observe seven supplementary vows and last sallekhanā vow. Mahavrata are the five fundamental observed by the Jain ascetics. According to Acharya Samantabhadra’s Ratnakaraņdaka śrāvakācāra:Abstaining from the commitment of five kinds of sins by way of doing these by oneself, causing these to be done, approval when done by others, through the three kinds of activity, constitutes the great vows of celebrated ascetics.
Ahimsa is formalised into Jain doctrine as the foremost vow. According to the Jain text, Tattvarthsutra: "The severance of vitalities out of passion is injury." Satya is the vow to not lie, to speak the truth. A monk or nun must not speak the false, either be silent or speak the truth. According to Pravin Shah, the great vow of satya applies to "speech and deed", it means discouraging and disapproving others who perpetuate a falsehood; the underlying cause of falsehood is passion and therefore, it is said to cause hiṃsā. Asteya as a great vow means not take anything, not given and without permission, it applies to anything if unattended or unclaimed, whether it is of worth or worthless thing. This vow of non-stealing applies to action and thought. Further a mendicant, states Shah, must neither encourage others to do so nor approve of such activities. According to the Jain text, Puruṣārthasiddhyupāya:Driven by passions, taking anything that has not been given be termed as theft and since theft causes injury, it is hiṃsā According to Tattvarthasutra, five observances that strengthen this vow are: Residence in a solitary place Residence in a deserted habitation Causing no hindrance to others, Acceptance of clean food, Not quarreling with brother monks.
Brahmacharya as a great vow of Jain mendicants means celibacy and avoiding any form of sexual activity with body, words or mind. A monk or nun should not enjoy sensual pleasures, which includes all the five senses, nor ask others to do the same, nor approve of another monk or nun engaging in sexual or sensual activity. According to Tattvarthsutra, "Infatuation is attachment to possessions". Jain texts mentions that "attachment to possessions is of two kinds: attachment to internal possessions, attachment to external possessions; the fourteen internal possessions are: Wrong belief The three sex-passions Male sex-passion Female sex-passion Neuter sex-passion Six defects Laughter Liking Disliking Sorrow Fear Disgust Four passions Anger Pride Deceitfulness GreedExternal possessions are divided into two subclasses, the non-living, the living. According to Jain texts, both internal and external possessions are proved to be hiṃsā; the five great vows apply only to ascetics in Jainism, in their place are five minor vows for householders.
The historic texts of Jains accept that any activity by a layperson would involve some form of himsa to some living beings, therefore the minor vow emphasizes reduction of the impact and active efforts to protect. The five "minor vows" in Jainism are modeled after the great vows, but differ in degree and they are less demanding or restrictive than the same "great vows" for ascetics. Thus, brahmacharya for householders means chastity, or being sexually faithful to one's partner. States John Cort, a mendicant's great vow of ahimsa requires that he or she must avoid gross and subtle forms of violence to all six kinds of living beings. In contrast, a Jain householder's minor vow requires no gross violence against higher life forms and an effort to protect animals from "slaughter, beating and suffering". Apart from five fundamental vows seven supplementary vows are prescribed for a śrāvaka; these include four śikşā vratas. The vow of sallekhanâ is observed by the votary at the end of his life, it is prescribed both for the householders.
According to the Jain text, Puruşārthasiddhyupāya:The man who incessantly observes all the supplementary vows and sallekhanâ for the sake of safeguarding his vows, gets fervently garlanded by the maiden called'liberation'. Digvrata- restriction on movement with regard to directions. Bhogopabhogaparimana- vow of limiting consumable and non-consumable things Anartha-dandaviramana- refraining from harmful occupations and activities. Samayika- vow to meditate and concentrate periodically. Desavrata- limiting movement to certain places for a fixed period of time. Prosadhopavâsa- Fasting at regular intervals. Atihti samvibhag- Vow of offering food to the ascetic and needy people. An ascetic or householder who has observed all
History of Jainism
History of Jainism is the history of a religion founded in Ancient India. Jains trace their history through twenty-four tirthankara and revere Rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara; some artifacts found in the Indus Valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient Jain culture, but this is speculative and a subjective interpretation. This theory has not been accepted by most scholars because little is known about the Indus Valley iconography and script; the last two tirthankara, the 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha and the 24th tirthankara Mahavira are considered historical figures. Mahavira was the elder contemporary of the Buddha. According to Jain texts, the 22nd Tirthankara Arshth-nemi lived about 85,000 years ago and was the cousin of Hindu god Krishna. Jains consider their religion eternal; the two main sects of Jainism, the Digambara and the Śvētāmbara sect started forming about the 3rd century BCE and the schism was complete by about 5th century CE. These sects subdivided into several sub-sects such as Sthānakavāsī and Terapanthis.
Jainism co-existed with Hinduism in ancient and medieval India. Many of its historic temples were built near the Buddhist and Hindu temples in 1st millennium CE. After the 12th-century, the temples and naked ascetic tradition of Jainism suffered persecution during the Muslim rule, with the exception of Akbar whose religious tolerance and support for Jainism led to a temporary ban on animal killing during the Jain religious festival of Paryusan; the origins of Jainism are obscure. The Jains claim their religion is eternal, consider Rishabhanatha the founder in the present time-cycle, someone who lived for 8,400,000 purva years. Rishabhanatha is the first tirthankar among the 24 Tirthankaras who are considered mythical figures by historians. Different scholars have had different views on the origin; some artifacts found in the Indus Valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient Jain culture, but this is speculative. According to a 1925 proposal of Glasenapp, Jainism's origin can be traced to the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha, he considers the first twenty-two tirthankaras as legendary mythical figures.
According to another proposal by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first vice president of India, Jainism was in existence long before the Vedas were composed. Jain texts and tradition believes in 24 Tirthankaras. Historians only consider the last two based on historical figures of the 1st millennium BCE. Buddhist sources don't mention Mahavira as a founder of new the tradition, but as part of an ascetic Nirgranthas tradition; this has led scholars to conclude that Mahavira was not the founder, but a reformer of a tradition established by his predecessor, Parsvanatha. During the 6th century BCE, Mahāvīra became one of the most influential teachers of Jainism. Jains revere him as the last tirthankara of present cosmic age. Though, Mahavira is sometimes mistakenly regarded as the founder, he appears in the tradition as one who, from the beginning, had followed a religion established long ago. There is reasonable historical evidence that the 23rd Tirthankara, the predecessor of Mahavira, lived somewhere in the 9th–7th century BCE.
Neminatha was the predecessor of Parshvanatha, 84,000 years ago, 22nd Tirthankara of the Jain tradition. The texts of Jainism call the Hindu god Krishna a cousin of Neminatha, say that Neminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he gave to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. According to Jeffery D. Long, a professor of Religion known for his publications on Jainism, this connection between Krishna and Neminatha has been a historic reason for Jains to accept and cite the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna related festivals and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins; the Vedas mention the name Rishabha. However, the context in the Rigveda and the Upanishads suggests that it means the bull, sometimes "any male animal" or "most excellent of any kind", or "a kind of medicinal plant". Elsewhere it is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva. Hindu mythical texts such as the Bhagavata Purana include Rishabha Jina as an avatar of Vishnu. After the nirvana of Parshvanatha, his disciple Subhadatta became the head of the monks.
Subhadatta was succeeded by Haridatta, Aryasamudra and lastly Kesi. Uttaradhyayana, a Svetambara text have records of a dialogue between Kesi; the Tirthankaras are believed in the Jain tradition to have attained omniscience, known as kevala jnana. After Mahavira, one of his disciples Sudharma Svami is said to have taken over the leadership, he was the head of Jain community till 515 BCE. After his death, Jambuswami, a disciple of Sudharma Svami became the head of the monks, he was the head till 463 BCE. Sudharma Svami and Jambu Svami are traditionally said to have attained keval jnana, it is said. After Sudharma svami, there followed five sutrakevalis, i.e. those who were well versed in the scriptures, who headed the monks of the Jain community. Bhadrabahu was the last sutrakevali. After Bhadrabahu, there were seven leaders. Knowledge of the scriptures was progressively being lost with each in turn. During Chandragupta Maurya's reign, Acharya Bhadrabahu moved to Karnataka to survive a twelve-year-long famine.
Sthulabhadra, a pupil of Acharya Bhadrabahu, stayed in Magadha. When followers of Acharya Bhadrabahu returned, there was a dispute between them regarding the authenticity of the Angas; those who stayed at magadha started wea
Arihant (Jainism)
Arihant is a soul who has conquered inner passions such as attachment, anger and greed. Having destroyed four inimical karmas, they realize pure self. Arihants are called kevalins as they possess kevala jnana. An arihant is called a jina. At the end of their life, arihants attain moksha and become siddhas. Arihantas have a body; the Ṇamōkāra mantra, the fundamental prayer dedicated to Pañca-Parameṣṭhi, begins with Ṇamō arihantāṇaṁ, "obeisance to the arihants". Kevalins - omniscient beings - are said to be of two kinds Tirthankara kevalī: 24 human spiritual guides who after attaining omniscience teach the path to salvation. Sāmānya kevalī: Kevalins who are concerned with their own liberation. According to Jains, every soul has the potential to become an arihant. A soul which destroys all kashayas or inner enemies like anger, ego and greed, responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance, becomes an arihant. According to Jain texts, omniscience is attained on the destruction of four types of karmas– deluding, the knowledge-obscuring, the perception-obscuring and the obstructive karmas, in the order mentioned.
The arihants are said to be free from the following eighteen imperfections: janma – birth. In Jainism, omniscience is said to be the infinite, all-embracing knowledge that reflects, as it were in a mirror, all substances and their infinite modes, extending through the past, the present and the future. According to Jain texts, omniscience is the natural attribute of the pure souls; the self-attaining omniscience becomes a kevalin. The four infinitudes are: ananta jñāna, infinite knowledge ananta darśana, perfect perception due to the destruction of all darśanāvaraṇīya karmas ananta sukha, infinite bliss ananta vīrya – infinite energy Those arihants who re-establish the Jain faith are called tirthankaras. Tirthankaras revitalize the sangha, the fourfold order consisting of male saints, female saints, male householders and female householders; the first tirthankara of the current time cycle was Ṛṣabhanātha, the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was Mahavira, who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE. Jain texts mention forty-six attributes of tirthankaras.
These attributes comprise four infinitudes, thirty-four miraculous happenings, eight splendours. The eight splendours are: aśokavrikśa – the Ashoka tree. At the time of nirvana, the arihant sheds off the remaining four aghati karmas: Nama karma Gotra karma, Vedniya karma, Ayushya karma; these four karmas are therefore called aghati karmas. In the Ṇamōkāra mantra, Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam, Jains worship the arihants first and to the siddhas though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas but arihants are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage than siddhas. Since siddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they are not directly accessible but may be through the wisdom they passed on; however arihants are accessible for spiritual guidance of human society until their nirvana. The Dravyasaṃgraha, a major Jain text, states: Having destroyed the four inimical varieties of karmas, possessed of infinite faith, happiness and power, housed in most auspicious body, that pure soul of the World Teacher should be meditated on.
God in Jainism Śramaṇa Simandhar Swami Jainism and non-creationism Jain philosophy Jain, Vijay K, Acarya Pujyapada's Istopadesa – the Golden Discourse, ISBN 9788190363969 Sangave, Vilas Adinath, Aspects of Jaina religion, Bharatiya Jnanpith, ISBN 81-263-0626-2 Rankin, Aidan, "Chapter 1. Jains Jainism and Jainness", Living Jainism: An Ethical Science, John Hunt Publishing, ISBN 978-1780999111 Jain, Vijay K.. Ācārya Nemichandra's Dravyasaṃgraha. ISBN 9788190363952. Non-copyright
Rishabhanatha
Rishabhanatha is the first Tirthankara of Jainism. A leader, he is believed in Jainism to have lived billions of billions of years ago, he was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain cosmology, called a "ford maker" because his teachings helped one across the sea of interminable rebirths and deaths. He is known as Ādinātha of Jainism which translates into "First Lord", as well as Adishvara, Yugadideva and Nebheya. Along with Mahavira and Neminatha, Rishabhanatha is one of the four Tirthankaras that attract the most devotional worship among the Jains. According to Jain traditional accounts, he was born to king Nabhi and queen Marudevi in the north Indian city of Ayodhya called Vinita, he had two wives and Sumangala. Sumangala is described as one daughter, Brahmi. Sunanda is depicted as the mother of Sundari; the sudden death of Nilanjana, one of the dancers of Indra, reminded him of the world's transitory nature, he developed a desire for renunciation. After his renunciation, the Jain legends state Rishabhanatha wandered without food for an entire year.
The day on which he got his first ahara is celebrated by Jains as Akshaya Tritiya. He is said to have attained Moksha on Mount Asthapada; the text Adi Purana by Jinasena is an account of the events of his life. His iconography includes colossal statues such as Statue of Ahimsa and those erected in Gopachal hill, his icons include the eponymous bull as his emblem, the Nyagrodha tree, Gomukha Yaksha, Chakreshvari Yakshi. Guinness world record holder 113 ft. tall statue of lord Rishabh is situated at Mangitungi by inspiration of Sumpreme Jain Sadhvi Ganini Gyanmati Mataji. According to Jain cosmology, the universe does not have end, its "Universal History" divides the cycle of time into two halves with six aras in each half, the cycles keep repeating perpetually. Twenty-four Tirthankaras appear in the first Tirthankara founding Jainism each time. In the present time cycle, Rishabhanatha is credited as being the first tīrthaṅkara, born at the end of the third half. According to Jain texts, Rishabhanatha was born in a king's family in the age when there was happiness all around with no one needing to do any work because of Kalpavriksha.
As the cycle progressed, the efficacy of these trees decreased, people rushed to their king for help. Rishabhanatha is said to have taught the men six main professions; these were: Asi, Krishi, Vidya and Shilp. In other words, he is credited with introducing karma-bhumi by founding arts and professions to enable householders to sustain themselves, he is, in the Jain belief, the one who organized a social system that created the varna based on professions. Rishabhanatha is credited in Jainism to have invented and taught fire and all skills needed for human beings to live. In total, Rishabhanatha is said to have taught seventy-two sciences to men and sixty-four to women. According to Paul Dundas, Rishabhanatha in Jain mythology is thus not a spiritual teacher but one who founded knowledge in its various forms and a form of culture hero for the current cosmological cycle; the institution of marriage is stated to have come into existence after he married to set an example for other humans to follow.
His life is credited by Jains with starting the institution of charity from layperson to mendicants, when he received sugarcane juice in his hand from King Shreyansha, to break his fast. This is accepted in the Jain tradition as what started the tradition of alms giving in its various forms, one that has continued since ancient times in India. Rishabhanatha is said to be the founder of Jainism by the different Jain sub-traditions. Jain chronology places Rishabhanatha in historical terms, as someone, he is stated to have lived for 8,400,000 purva years. His height is described in the Jain texts to be about 1,200 feet; such descriptions of non-human heights and age are found for the next 21 Tirthankaras in Jain texts and according to Kristi Wiley – a scholar at University of California Berkeley known for her publications in Jainism, most Indologists and scholars consider all the first 22 of 24 Tirthankaras to be prehistorical, or historical and a part of Jain mythology. However, among Jain writers and some Indian scholars, some of the first 22 Tirthankaras are considered to reflect historical figures, with a few conceding that the inflated biographical statistics are mythical.
According to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a professor of comparative religions and philosophy at Oxford who became the second President of India, there is evidence to show that Rishabhdeva was being worshipped by the first century BCE. The Yajurveda mentions the name of three Tirthankaras – Rishabha and Arishtanemi, states Radhakrishnan, "the Bhāgavata Purāṇa endorses the view that Rishabha was the founder of Jainism"; the Vedas mention the name Rishabha. However, the context in the Rigveda and the Upanishads suggests that it means the bull, sometimes "any male animal" or "most excellent of any kind", or "a kind of medicinal plant". Elsewhere it is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva.. 0 Rudra-like Div
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