Book Title: Aatmanushasan
Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp Printers

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Page 227
________________ Verse 217 Bharata cakravarti proceeded for his capital Ayodhyāpurī with his vast ocean of army and the all-powerful, divine cakraratna (spinning, disk-like super weapon with serrated edges). But the cakraratna, surprisingly, stopped on its own at the entrance of Ayodhyāpuri signalling to the Emperor that there still remained individuals who have refused submission to his supreme authority. The Emperor found out that they were no other but his own younger brothers - ninety-nine of them, all extremely virtuous, full of self-esteem, and not easy to win over. The Emperor sent them an appropriate message through an envoy. On receiving the message, highly courteous but essentially commanding them to submit before his authority, they all decided to approach, with a strong urge for world renunciation, their Father, the World Teacher (Tirthańkara) Lord Rşabha Deva, who, after attaining omniscience, was gloriously seated in the heavenly Pavilion (samavasaraṇa) erected by the celestial beings at Mount Kailāśa. The World Teacher, in his divine discourse, set them firmly on the path to liberation; he preached that for anyone who had great selfesteem, magnificent body, in the prime of his youth, extreme strength, and also noble virtues, it was not commendable to be subservient to a worldly power; it is like the majestic elephant tamed for use as a carrier. All the brothers, realizing the transitory nature of the world and determined to salute and adore no one but Lord Rşabha Deva, who is worshipped even by the Indras, embraced the most extraordinary Jaina ordination (muni dīkņā). They all, endowed with the final and superior bodies of extraordinary sturdiness and strength (vajrarşabhanārācasamhanana), became truly independent, followed the most demanding conduct prescribed for a muni to the letter, and finally attained the supreme status that is liberation. The Emperor's yet another brother Bāhubalī, also endowed with the final and superior body of extraordinary sturdiness and strength (vajrarṣabhanārācasamhanana), hurled open defiance at the Emperor and challenged him to a fight. When the two armies were ready for a face to face confrontation, the ministers on both sides deliberated that the war would unnecessarily result in the massacre of innocent people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

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