$JES 904 Compendium of Jainism (Jain Academic Bowl Manual 3rd Edition)

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 307

F01 Story Tirthankars
04 - Bhagwän Mallinäth
04- Bhagwan Mallinäth
A long time ago, King Mahäbal ruled over the city of Veetshoka in the Mahävideha region of Jambudweep. King Mahäbal had six very close childhood friends. The seven of them were so close that they did everything together. None of them would do anything without seeking the advice of the others. One day, a well-known Ächärya named Dharmaghosh-suri came to Veetshoka. King Mahäbal and his friends went to listen to his sermon and were very impressed. Mahäbal realized that extreme misery and pain exists in living a worldly life, so he decided to renounce worldly life. Upon sharing his intentions with his friends, they agreed to do the same. His friends also renounced their worldly lives along with him. King Mahäbal and his six friends became monks and disciples of Dharmaghosh-suri.
As monks, these seven friends observed austerities and restraints together. Unbeknown to his friends however, Mahäbal sought more than just freedom from the pains of worldly life. He had an intense desire to free every living being from suffering and to guide them all towards liberation. To achieve his objective, Mahäbal secretly observed longer austerities. Because of this intense penance and strong motivation, Mahäbal acquired Tirthankar-Näm-Karma. At the same time, because of this secrecy, he acquired the karma that he would be born as a female in the future according to Shvetambar tradition.
All seven friends continued to observe increasingly difficult austerities throughout their lives. At the end of their lives, they all attained a heavenly abode. After completing their heavenly life spans, Mahäbal and his six friends were born as human beings in different places.
During this time King Kumbha was ruling over the city of Mithilä, India. He had a queen named Prabhävati. While she was pregnant, she saw 14 (16 by the Digambar tradition) pious dreams indicating the arrival of a Tirthankar soul. Since Mahäbal had earned the Tirthankar-Näm-Karma and a female gender, his soul descended into the womb of Prabhävati and was born as Princess Malli. (The Digambar tradition believes that Tirthankar Mallinäth was male and rejects the acquisition of female gender Karma). A few years later, Queen Prabhävati had a son named Malladin.
The six friends of Mahäbal were reborn as princes in different kingdoms. They eventually became powerful kings of the cities of Hastinäpur, Ayodhyä, Champä, Käshi, Kämpilypur, and Shrävasti. All of these cities were located in the present states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
King Kumbha and Queen Prabhävati lovingly raised their children Malli and Malladin. Princess Malli was exceedingly charming and beautiful and grew up to be a very attractive girl. Malladin respected his elder sister. King Kumbha wanted to give them the best education and therefore entrusted their training to highly respected teachers who taught them all the required arts and crafts. Princess Malli mastered all the fine arts and became a talented and accomplished princess. Malladin learned all the martial arts and became a bold and brave youth.
At one point, King Kumbha decided to establish an art gallery in Mithilä. A marvelous building was constructed for this purpose and all of the well-known artists were invited to make their artistic contribution to the gallery. One artist from Hastinäpur possessed a special power to prepare an accurate portrait of anyone by merely seeing one part of his or her body. He once happened to see the toe of princess Malli and from that, he drew an accurate portrait of princess Malli on the wall. Even the smallest details were accurately portrayed. It was so lifelike that when prince Malladin came to see the gallery and looked at the portrait, he felt as if his sister were standing there and actually folded his hands as a token of respect When he realized that it was merely a portrait, he was puzzled as to how the artist had obtained such minute details of his sister's body. He was told of the special power and the talent that the artist possessed. Although he recognized the rarity of this accomplishment, the prince also foresaw the dangers of such a talent. He therefore wanted to prevent the use of that special power. The artist was asked to abandon his art in return for a suitable reward. The artist refused and insisted upon his freedom of artistic expression. In order to prevent the misuse of the artist's talents, the prince ordered that the thumb of the artist be cut off; the artist decided immediately to take revenge.
The angry artist returned to Hastinäpur without one thumb. He found another artist who could draw a portrait of princess Malli according to his instructions. In time he prepared an even more attractive portrait of Malli and presented it to the king of Hastinäpur (who was Malli's close friend in a previous life). The
Compendium of Jainism - 2015
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