Tirthankar Mahavira A Biographical in Verse

Author(s): Mukesh Chhajer
Publisher: Mukesh Chhajer
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/007502/1

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Tirthankar Mahaveer
A Biography in Verse
Mukesh Chhajer

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Title: Tirthankar Mahaveer – A Biography in Verse Author: Mukesh Chhajer
Please send any comments, corrections and suggestions to mchhajer@hotmail.com
Other books by author:
• Random Reflections (2006)
On Life and Liberation: Essays on Jain Practices and Philosophy (2007) Silent Voices (2008) Samay Ke Rang (2010) (in Hindi)
Copies of the books can be obtained from www.lulu.com
Copyright © 2010 Mukesh Chhajer All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the author.

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PREFACE
The story of Bhagwan Mahaveer's life is well-known and generally agreed upon by scholars and followers of various sects of Jain religion with minor variations. It is described in Jain texts and many scholarly biographies of Mahaveer Swami are available in Hindi, Gujarati, English etc. Most of these biographies are in prose form. Episodic events of Mahaveer Swami's life have been described in poetic form in various Indian languages however, I am not aware of any such attempts in English language.
An abridged account of Bhagwan Mahaveer's life in a poetic form in English language is presented here. Only major events of his life have been included, most of which are universally accepted by followers of all sects of Jain religion. Where there are differences in the story between different sects, the story as told in Shwetamber tradition has been followed since I am mostly familiar with this tradition. To tell a coherent story, one has to make a choice. I hope this will not discourage others from enjoying the presentation.
I would like to thank Jainworld.com for making available the graphic arts depicting the life of Bhagawan Mahaveer. The primary source for the story used here is “Bhagwan Mahaveer Swami” by A. P. Jain (posted on www.jainsamaj.com).
Mukesh Chhajer
Danville, VA June 16, 2010

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To the followers of
Ahimsa

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Mukesh Chhajer
Tirthankar Mahaveer
Suffering and pain is not new in this world Ego, jealousy, hatred and anger are just as ancient Passions grip and man surrenders But the desire to be free is also ever-present
Since the time immemorial, man has sought escape From the life of misery, bondage and unhappiness From time to time, we have been fortunate that Just such souls have appeared, on this blessed earth To show us the path, to set an example To inspire us to seek, complete freedom This is the story of one such soul Who showed us a path to enlightenment Through Ahimsa, Asteya, Aparigraha Through Satya and Brahmacharya By compassion towards all living beings Even those that cannot be seen with naked eyes
The story begins in the darkness of time But the light of compassion was still evident

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Tirthankar Mahaveer
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Mukesh Chhajer
In a simple act of providing sustenance To wandering and hungry, forlorn ascetics Barefoot walking through the parched land In return, received the message of enlightenment
Hereafter, it will be twenty seven births Before crossing the threshold of supreme knowledge
After a stay in heaven Saudharm Kalpa The soul was born in an auspicious gotra Prince Marichi, son of Bharat Chakravarti Grandson of Tirthankar Rishabhdev First among the twenty four of this era Who brought back for suffering souls The science of liberation, long forgotten The Omniscient One foretold his destiny The young prince puffed up, with pride and vanity Thereafter he followed a circuitous path To start a cycle of karmic evolution
In the process, he traveled through many worlds As human, tiryancha, deva and even as infernal being The laws of karma are ever, unforgiving Before being born as Triprishtha Vasudev Brave and courageous, scourge of enemies Conquering three continents of the Bharat-kshetra To become the first Vasudev of this time cycle
Later born as Priyamitra Completed the conquest that was unfinished The world bowed to his wishes As he was hailed, Chakravarti
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Tirthankar Mahaveer
OSIS
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Birth in the bhava of Nandan Muni Provided the opportunity for severe austerities To purify the soul through the fire of penance As the time was ripe for the final appearance
Eons had passed since Prince Marichi walked the earth Society was in the throes of declining moral values Religion had become a way of livelihood
Controlled by a select few, for their own benefits Rituals became ends in themselves
Knowledge of the self, lost in the scriptures Women and shudras, reduced to mere possessions A darkness engulfed all around
As everyone cared only for himself
A soul to lead the way descended
To show the path of liberation
Mukesh Chhajer
In the town of Vaishali, in the clan of Rishabhdev
King Siddhartha and Queen Trishla reigned, with even-hand Following the path of Tirthankar Parsva
One night, as the Queen was asleep, being of heavy feet sequence of dreams followed, a total of fourteen A Lion, an Elephant, a Bull
A
Goddess Lakshmi, a Garland, the Full Moon Bright Sun, a Flag, Golden Vase
Lotus Lake, Ocean, Celestial Plane Heaps of Jewels and Smokeless Fire Surprised and elated, she awoke the king
In the court next day, the wise ones hailed in unison "O King, blessed are you and the Queen
For you will beget an ideal son
Fearless, mighty and strong
Virtuous, courageous and full of compassion
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Tirthankar Mahaveer

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Mukesh Chhajer
Endowed with the supreme knowledge Who will one day rule the entire world” Overjoyed, the king and kingdom awaited When such a one will set foot on the earth
In the month of Chaitra on the thirteenth day As the moon was racing towards its zenith Nature awaited with belated breath And overjoyed earth filled with intoxicating fragrance The moment was right, at the stroke of mid-night Even the thrones of the heavens, danced with joy
The mighty Indra immediately pronounced “The Lord of the world has been born Let's make haste, to pay our respect” The baby was whisked to the Mount Meru To be worshipped and anointed By devas of various heavens
As the birds sang the songs of welcome And the Sun emerged to banish the darkness The morning breeze announced the auspicious news King and commoners all joined in celebrations To embrace the dawn of a new age Arrival of the new born brings prosperity and happiness Appropriately named, Prince Vardhaman
Brave and courageous With wisdom and compassion Even as a child, he was fearless The fragrance of the virtues Spread through the earth and the heavens Even the Lord of the Heavens, once, opined

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Tirthankar Mahaveer

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Mukesh Chhajer
“There is no one better Than the young Prince Vardhaman”
That was a high praise for a boy of eight It did not sit well with one of the devas Who decided to test young prince's mantle At once, he appeared in the form of a poisonous snake To frighten the prince and his playmates While other boys ran to save themselves The prince calmly picked up the snake, by the tail Later, he appeared in the guise of a boy Losing a race, to carry the prince on his back Suddenly to attain a giant's form, only to be floored By the mighty fist of Vardhaman
As a boy, he was well versed in knowledge Even the teacher bowed to his wisdom Such was the perfection Of his understanding of the laws of life
With the bounties of the world at his feet And comforts of the universe, at his finger tips Even in the fullness of his youth The prince remained a mere bystander Obedient son and a loyal brother His thoughts firmly set on a distant goal Without parents' permission though, he could not embark On the path that was destined, so he bid his time In meadows, in quiet contemplations
He sought permission from his distraught brother At the moment of their parents' earthly departure With tear-filled eyes, the brother entreated

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Tirthankar Mahaveer

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Mukesh Chhajer
Stay for two more years, to lessen my sorrow Respectfully acceding to the elder brother's request Though his life increasingly resembled That of a perfect monk
The time, at last, was upon him For which the prince had been, eagerly waiting Devas of the heavens arrived in great numbers To remind the prince of his, awaiting destiny
On the tenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Margshirsh The prince set foot in a palanquin, for the last time Followed by the relatives and citizens of Vaishali To arrive at the Jnatkhand, under an Ashoka tree Giving up all his princely possessions Pulled out his hairs in five fistful strokes With a single robe, an offering by Lord Indra And the utterance of the sacred mantra, “Namo Siddhanam” The prince assumed, the life of a wandering monk
From here on, he will adhere to the five great vows Of non-harming, non-possession, non-stealing Of truth and celibacy, in their strictest sense Life of an ascetic with no possessions The young monk now travels from place to place, bare-foot Undertaking arduous penance, undergoing many hardships At the hands of the nature and ignorant human beings
The boiling pot of karma was ready To test the resolve of the young monk, immediately
As he arrived near the town of Kurmargram A cowherd with an oxen, approached the monk Asking the monk to take its care
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Tirthankar Mahaveer

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Mukesh Chhajer
Off he went, without waiting for an answer While the monk was lost, deep in meditation Upon his return, with his oxen nowhere in sight And no replies to his incessant enquiries that Infuriated the cowherd beyond any measures As the monk was still unaware of his surroundings Eager to teach the monk a lesson The cowherd readied himself, with a rope A booming voice, though, froze him in his tracks “Stop, O fool, don't make such a grave mistake He is not a thief but the Prince Vardhaman himself”
It was the Lord of the Heavens himself Who had come to the rescue of the young monk Realizing his error, the cowherd sought forgiveness That was duly granted, without any ill-will “Let me provide you with protection, O Lord” Indra entreated, “To save you from the foolishness of ignorant people. So you may proceed, uninterrupted” To which, the young monk replied, with a smile “Liberation cannot be attained, O Lord of the Heavens With the help of others, be they gods or demons. The laws of karma do not bow to anyone.”
At another time, the young monk arrived In a small town, that had been devastated By Shulpani, the lance wielding demon Anyone who dared to stay in his temple Was reduced to bare bones before the daybreak Undeterred by the entreaties of the village folks The monk made temple his nightly abode Already lost in deep meditation, even Before the demon returned

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Mukesh Chhajer
Bemused by the presence of a mere human The demon resorted to his usual tricks Goading, clawing, creating frightening noises It appeared as a serpent and a mad elephant Tossing the monk high in air Then proceeded to pierce through his body parts That the monk bore all without any irritation At last exhausted, the demon realized He is not dealing with an ordinary being Filled with a new awareness, his anger subsided Prostrated before the Lord, seeking forgiveness
Eyes filled with loving compassion The young monk raised his hand, in forgiveness Counseled the demon to be rid of the anger Be filled with love and compassion towards all
Later, the young monk moved toward The town of Shwetambika, the road to which Passed through the path of Chandakaushik A venomous cobra with deadly poison Even its hissing was enough, to kill plants and animals The young monk, for whom fear was an alien word Proceeded towards the cobra's abode Through the animal and human remains With calm and without ill-will For it was his wish to bring it, to the path of love and peace
The serpent, surprised at the presence of a mere mortal So close to its abode yet perfectly calm, in deep meditation Hissed furiously, at first, but to no avail Next, it buried its fangs deep, in the young monk's feet As if paying respect

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Tirthankar Mahaveer
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Mukesh Chhajer
Three times it repeated and every time it was surprised As milk oozed out of the monk's feet Who still stood completely undisturbed With a compassionate smile like a blooming flower Confused, for the first time it was forced to realize The power of love over the power of hatred The monk looked at it with benign smile "O Chandakaushik, Rise above your venomous-self" Memories flooded past the serpent’s mind Opening the storehouse of its past lives Revealing the source of its anger and pain At last, it achieved tranquility and peace It vowed to change its ways from the day Born as a deva in Sehasrar heaven, in next life
As the monk moved from Shravasti Gaushalak decided to follow him along Under the cold and wind of the night He had trouble keeping up with the Lord At night, they stopped under a banyan tree While the monk busied himself with meditation Gaushalak joined other wayfarers Burning wood to keep themselves warm The fire spread as they slept That quickly reached monk's feet Who was engrossed deep within himself After testing his resolve for a while The fire bowed and then retreated
In the fifth year of his peregrination He ventured into Vajrabhumi, with Gaushalak by his side Harassed, abused, tortured by man He continued his journey all the same

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Mukesh Chhajer
On the way, they encountered a Tapas ascetic Who performed penance in fierce ways Angered by Gaushalak, Tapas issued a fire That followed him as he cried for help As the Lord issued a pacifying glance The surprised ascetic immediately realized Seeking Lord's forgiveness, he bade goodbye “Don't disturb others” turning to Gaushalak, said the Lord
Tortured by Kataputna in the sixth year Only to be humbled by the peace of Mahaveer She accepted her defeat with humility and grace And so followed many others
A god by the name of Sangam, felt jealous as Indra praised Mahaveer's virtues In an attempt to disturb Lord's calm He assumed many forms Wind, rain, storm Stinging ants and biting mongoose Cobras and rats circled, followed by mad elephants He even tried, heavenly damsels None though could shake Mahaveer's resolve As his goal was to attain the Supreme Truth Sangam left with his head bowed down
There was a demon named Chamarendra Desirous to take on the Lord of the Heavens He sought refuge under Lord's feet Quickly then rushed to challenge the Indra When faced with the prospect of approaching death He ran towards the Lord to save himself A strange situation has now arose Vajra approaching the target, hidden under Lord's feet
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Mukesh Chhajer
Hurried, the Indra ran after it, barely avoiding a catastrophe Begging for forgiveness, the demon prostrated As Lord did, so did Indra For how could he follow any other course
Incident after incident in his life Of forgiveness to those who had erred For it's not in man's hand Karma has its own way of extracting the price
Following a path of intense austerities, the monk moved Constantly through the forests and the cities Through places that people were afraid of For he was not to be cowed down by fear Observing upvaas for days, weeks and months That could be broken, only if all his conditions were met In the long penance of twelve-and-half years He took food only 349 times
In the twelfth year of his penance, he took a vow most difficult To break the fast, only when an enslaved princess Chained with shaven head, offers alms with tears in her eyes Of course, the vow was known only to him Keeping everyone in great suspense
Searching for a suitable alm's giver, the monk Would wander through the streets of Kaushambi Every day, only to return empty-handed With equanimity and without remorse Days passed and it was weeks and still later months The whole town was eager, to see monk break his fast Wondering if it would ever be possible It was almost three seasons, before he encountered
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Tirthankar Mahaveer

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Mukesh Chhajer
Just such a person: A princess, enslaved and in chains Waiting at the door with alms in hand and shaven head As the monk approached, she felt elated How fortunate, that the Lord should come my way Filled with joy, tears started trickling down her cheeks With all conditions, finally, fulfilled The monk accepted the alms, to end his upvaas Longest of his long penance, lasting six months Bestowing upon Princess Chandanbala, the honor Of being amongst his foremost disciples
In the last days of his penance, the Lord Encountered another hardship He was accused of theft and hypocrisy Thorns were hammered in his ears Paying the price for an earlier transgression The Lord bore all with perfect calmness Without a feeling of anger or ill-will As the time was approaching for the fulfillment Of the long cherished dream
In the month of Vaishakh, on the tenth day of bright moon The journey that lasted for more than twelve years Moved in its final phase Under a Saal tree on the bank of river Rijubakula The Sun made haste to hide itself Before being outshone by the approaching dawn More powerful and more magnificent The likes of which were not to seen again, for a long-long time
As the blissful universe eagerly awaited The last threads of ghati karma quickly disintegrated With the sounds of conches, shells and dumdubhi Devas of heavens arrived in great numbers

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Tirthankar Mahaveer
STERIES
गातम
भगवान श्रीमहावीरसेप्रतिधुक भावि११ गणधर,वाहागअवस्थामें

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Mukesh Chhajer
To worship and eulogize, to have Lord's darshan For it is an event, rare in the world Mahaveer was now a Kevali, a Sarvajna
The task of reorganization began without delay As Jina was confronted by eleven scholars, on the next day Each learned in his own right Vedas and scriptures flowed from their tongues Each commanded a strong following Yet harbored a nagging doubt
Foremost amongst them, Indrabhuti Gautam Decided to challenge the Kevali Bhagwan Walked towards the tree with head held high Followed by a long and curious retinue
“O Indrabhuti, come my dear Soul exists, as you and me Vedas provide ample proof But only to those with the real experience To the senses though, it remains elusive” To the amazement of all, Indrabhuti surrendered Accepting Him as the guru, leaving behind the ego
The news traveled like a blazing wildfire Created commotion in the assembly of scholars Next to arrive, Agnibhuti Gautam To rescue his brother from a grave danger “O Angibhuti, come my dear Just as the soul, karma is real Soul suffers due to the bondage of karma Intertwined together since eternity”

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Tirthankar Mahaveer
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Mukesh Chhajer
With doubts removed, Agnibhuti prostrated The entire entourage followed his example One by one, they all arrived With flags flying high and certain of victory Only to find refuge at the feet of the Omniscient
All scholars with the knowledge of the scriptures Got cleansed in the river of real experience Came to be known as Eleven Ganadharas Hold a place of immense importance, in Jin Shashan Indebted are we to their services For bringing to us, the words of the Jinendra
And so came many other Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudras In His eyes, there were no differences Constantly traveling for next thirty years Touching lives of millions in the process Establishing an order with four pillars (Sadhu, Sadhvi, Shravak and Shravika) Set on the foundation of pancha mahavrata Upholding the supremacy of Anekantavad Reaching the goal aspired by all Leaving behind a trail for others For His compassion knew no bounds
As the time of departure was approaching close The Lord delivered his last sermon That lasted for forty eight hours On moonless night in the month of Kartik As His words enlightened all corners of the world Last traces of karma fell from the soul Forever free, straight it arose to the Siddhaloka

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Mukesh Chhajer Lamps are burnt in His honor To dispel the darkness and embrace the light On the day, we now celebrate as Diwali Lessons of His life are easy to remember Putting them in practice though, is the real challenge Harm none even if they are enemies For hurting others will bring manifold miseries Speak truth but with compassion Otherwise, it will serve no purpose Keep only as much as necessary Otherwise, it is theft and robbery Passion leads to bondage of karma Sinking soul to the botto ul to the bottom of a pond Covetousness is a significant hindrance If one wishes to follow, the path of Jinendra Ego, jealousy, hatred, and anger All lead to greater bondage Protection of the weak, help to the needy Feeding hungry, service to the sick All accrue beneficial karma when performed Without any ulterior motives Yet one has to go, beyond these measures If the goal is to attain, the Sparkling Diamond This is the story of Prince Vardhaman Recited through the generations For the benefit of the mankind