________________
pouring rain. Dharanendra then severely reprimanded Meghamäli for his wretched actions and asked him to stop the rain. All of Meghamäli's efforts to harass Pärshvanäth had been in vain. He was disappointed, but then realized that he was unnecessarily creating trouble for the merciful Lord. He withdrew all his supernatural powers and fell at Pärshvanäth's feet with a sense of deep remorse, sincerely begging the Lord to forgive him for his evil acts. During that period of distress, Pärshvanäth had been deep in meditation. He had not been aware of Meghamäli's attacks or Dharanendra's protection. Pärshvanäth had developed perfect equanimity, so he did not have any special affection for Dharanendra for the protection he had extended or hatred for Meghamäli for the distress he had caused. He continued developing a higher purity of consciousness, ultimately attaining omniscience on the 84th day of his renunciation (the 4th day of the dark half of the month of Fälgun, usually falling in April).
After attaining omniscience, Pärshvanäth began preaching the true religion. He reinstated the Tirtha or religious four-fold order and became the twenty-third Tirthankar of the Jain religion. He had ten Ganadhars, or principal disciples, and eventually his parents and his wife, Prabhävati, renounced the world and became his disciples as well. Thereafter, he lived long enough to spread the true religion before attaining nirväna at the age of 100 at Sametshikhar, a hill in the state of Bihar and a famous Jain pilgrimage site.
Moral:
BHAGAWÄN PÄRSHVANÄTH
Pärshva-kumär demonstrated a very keen sense of non-violence and detachment from all material possessions and from relationships with people. These are the qualities essential for attaining self-realization. He showed us that one should be detached and impartial regardless of whether a person is our well-wisher or enemy. We may not always know and understand the reason why a person behaves in a strange way towards us; it may be because of our karmas from a past life.
05 - Questions:
1. Describe the situation between Kamath and Pärshva kumär.
2. Describe an incident in Bhagawän Pärshvanäth's life after he took dikshä. 3. At what age and where did he attain Nirväna?
JAIN STORY BOOK
35
