________________
Lord r
mtin tha
The 16thT rthamkara after Lord Dharman tha was Lord mtin tha. His life was beneficial to the world and very inspiring. He had gained the T rthamkara status after many past lives. Among his incarnations as
r e a, Yugalika, etc, here is given a brief description of his past life as Vajr yudha:
In the eastern Videha, in the province called Mamgal vat Vijaya was a city named Ratnasamcay . Vajr yudha was born to Ratnam 1 , queen of king Kemamkara of Ratnasamcay . When he grew up he was married to Lak m vat Dev. After some years Lak m vat gave birth to a son who was named Sahasr yudha. At some point in the heavens, in the presence of gods, Indra praised Vajr yudha's samyaktva (right belief). All the gods were pleased to hear this from Indra but one god named Citrac la expressed desire to test him and appeared in K emamkara's court. In the court he said there is nothing called soul, the other world, good, meritorious and bad deeds (p pa, pu ya), etc; people fall into blind beliefs and bear with pain as a result. Vajr yudha replied, “Oh God! If you used avadhij na (clairvoyant knowledge) you will find that you have done some special deed in your past life as a result of which you have attained a god's position. The present affluence / accomplishment are the result of a past merit. The god was impressed by Vajr yudha's firmness and asked him to make a wish. Vajr yudha said to him - I only wish that you would adhere to samyaktva (right path). Pleased with Vajr yudha's selflessness the god gifted him with a divine adornment and praised his samyaktva.
After some time K emamkara left the royal affairs in the care of Vajr yudha and became a renouncer, attained pure knowledge and was called as psychic T rthamkara. Here a cakra jewel appeared in Vajr yudha's armouryand he conquered the six parts of the world and gained the title of universal emperor (cakravart) and made Sahasr yudha the crown prince. In time, giving him the kingdom, he took initiation and self-discipline and observing p dopagamana fast, became a Graiveyaka god. Descending form Graiveyaka, he was born as a son from the womb of Priyamat , queen of Ghanaratha, king of Pu dar kicity. He was named Megharatha. Megharatha was very courageous, brave and
130