$JES 202 Jain Story Book Level 2 Book

SR No.: 000121
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee
Publication Year: 2005
Total Pages: 160
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Jaina_Education, 0_Jaina_education, & JAINA Books
File Size: 22 MB

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Several monks undertook the long journey, but only Sthulibhadra reached Nepal. He began to learn the twelfth Anga Ägam and its 14 purvas under Ächärya Bhadrabähu.
Once, Sthulibhadra's sisters, who were nuns, decided to visit him in Nepal. At this time, Sthulibhadra had completely learned 10 of the 14 purvas. He wanted to impress them with the miraculous power he had acquired from learning the 10 purvas and knowledge from the twelfth Ägam. Therefore, he transformed his body into a lion and waited for them to arrive. When his sisters entered the cave, they found a lion instead of their brother. Fearful of what may have happened to him, they went directly to Bhadrabähu swämi. Ächärya Bhadrabähu realized what had happened and asked the sisters to go back to the cave again. This time, Sthulibhadra had resumed his original form and the sisters were joyful to see him alive and well.
However, Bhadrabähu swämi was disappointed because Sthulibhadra had misused his special powers for such a trivial purpose. He felt that Sthulibhadra was not mature enough in his spiritual progress and therefore refused to teach him the remaining four purvas. A chastised Sthulibhadra tried to persuade him to reconsider, but Bhadrabähu swämi was firm. It was only when the Jain sangh requested Ächärya Bhadrabähu to reconsider his decision that Sthulibhadra was allowed to learn the remaining four Purvas. But Ächärya Bhadrabähu attached two conditions for Sthulibhadra:
• He would not teach Sthulibhadra the meaning of the last four Purvas
•
Sthulibhadra could not teach those four purvas to any other monk
ÄCHÄRYA STHULIBHADRA
Sthulibhadra agreed and learned the remaining four purvas.
Since Jain scriptures were not written down and Ächärya Sthulibhadra made significant efforts to save them after the famine, his name stands very high in the history of Jainism. Even today, his name is recited next to Lord Mahävir and Gautam swämi by the Shvetämbar tradition.
Moral:
It is never too late to set high goals in life, and with determination, there is no adversity too difficult to overcome. Though he was 30 at the time and had wasted 12 years of his life, Sthulibhadra renounced the world and successfully pursued an austere spiritual life. With resolve, he also conquered his biggest inner enemy, desire, by returning to the place where his desire had previously gotten the best of him. Ultimately, he became a famous Jain saint whose name is still repeated in prayers for his great religious work
09 - Questions:
1. How and where did Sthulibhadra spend his youth?
2. What incident affected him? How did it affect him? What did he do?
3. Where did he spend his monsoon? Why? What happened?
4. Who had complete knowledge of all the Jain scriptures?
5. Why did Sthulibhadra go to Nepal? What did he learn there?
6. How did he misuse his powers? What happened as a result of the misuse of power?
JAIN STORY BOOK
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