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02 - Bhagawän Ädinäth
Time is infinite. The Jain time cycle has no beginning or end. It continuously migrates from periods of progress to periods of decline. According to Jain tradition, a period of progress, known as an Utsarpini or an ascending order, is marked with all-around improvement, including longer lifespan, greater prosperity, and overall happiness. On the other hand, a period of decline, known as an Avasarpini or a descending order, is marked with all-around deterioration and decline such as a shorter life span and general gloom. These two periods together make onetime cycle.
Each Utsarpini and Avasarpini is divided into six eras called Äräs, meaning the spokes of a wheel. We are currently in the fifth Ära of the Avasarpini period. It is also known as Dusham or Dukham (Unhappy) Ärä. Hindu tradition calls it Kaliyuga.
Until the end of the third Ärä of the current Avasarpini, people led a natural and simple life. The population was small and nature provided all the necessities for human beings; trees provided shelter and enough leaves and bark for covering their bodies. With the help of the branches, they could erect huts for protection from rain and extreme weather. When they felt hungry, they could pick their food from the trees and bushes. There was enough flowing water for cleaning their bodies and quenching their thirst. As such, there was no struggle for existence or rivalry for survival, and people spent their lives in peace.
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BHAGAWÄN ÄDINÄTH
अआइई
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Rishabhadev teaching life skills and trade
The people lived in tribes, each of which had a leader known as a Kulkar or King. Towards the end of the third Ärä, there lived a Kulkar named Näbhiräyä who managed his community peacefully. In due course, his beautiful wife, Queen Marudevi, gave birth to Rishabh.
The world's conditions started changing after Rishabh was born. There was an increase in population and nature no longer remained as bountiful as it used to be. This gave rise to a struggle for the acquisition and accumulation of the necessities of life; the emotions of jealousy and envy arose. Näbhiräyä, as the leader of the community, tried to restrain the struggle to the utmost possible extent. As Rishabh grew to be a bold, intelligent, and enthusiastic young man, Näbhiräyä entrusted the management of the kingdom to him.
Rishabh was a visionary, a thinker, and an inventor. He foresaw that the struggle for survival would become worse unless some system of producing the necessities of life was created. He realized that people could make an effort to obtain what they needed from nature instead of relying exclusively on natural bounties. He therefore evolved the art of crop cultivation and taught people how to grow food and fiber. Thus, he ushered in what we call the age of material civilization.
To make the lives of people more comfortable, he taught them how to make utensils, cook food, build houses, make clothes, cultivate land, and raise animals like cows and horses. He also developed different arts and crafts to make a variety of articles from wood, metal, and stone. Due to his efforts, the first city, named Vinitä and later known as Ayodhyä, came into existence.
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