Dravyasamgraha

Author(s): Nemichandra Acharya, Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

Page 12

tion. I bow with extreme devotion to Lord Rishabha Deva and his ninetynine Sons who knew their Souls to be the true Kings.
The Emperor's one other brother Bahubali, also endowed with the final and superior body of extraordinary sturdiness and strength (vajrarşabhanārācasamhanana), hurled open defiance at the Emperor and challenged him to a fight. When the two armies came face to face with each other, the ministers on both sides deliberated that the war would unnecessarily result into massacre of innocent people and that it was quite useless to proceed with the war in an ordinary way. Neither Bharata nor Bahubali, both having the final and superior bodies, could be overwhelmed by any weapon and, therefore, let the two brothers fight out the issue by themselves in other ways. It was decided that they should settle their dispute by means of three kinds of contests, namely, eye-fight (constant staring at each other), water-fight, and wrestling. Bahubali won all the three contests but instead of throwing Bharata down on the ground in the last fight (wrestling), he lifted him up on his shoulder and then gently placed him on the ground, out of an affectionate regard for him. Humiliated and infuriated, Bharata called for his irresistible, allpowerful and divine cakraratna. Instead of harming Bahubali, it merely circled round him and came to rest in front of him. This had happened because such divine weapons lose their effectiveness when confronted with the master's close relations. While the assembled kings and courtiers were praising Bahubali on his extraordinary prowess, he himself was contemplating upon the folly of fighting with his own brother for the sake of pride and kingdom. He quickly realized that all sense objects although look attractive in the beginning, end up giving very painful results. He begged for Bharata's pardon, gave his kingdom to son Mahabali, and worshipping the Holy Feet of his Father, Lord Rishabha Deva, entered the order of homeless, naked monks. Bahubali performed the severest of austerities, standing motionless, and immersed in contemplation for a whole year. He attained Omniscience and finally complete release from the worldly sufferings, at Mount Kailasha.
Filled always with the spirit of world-flight Bharata ruled his kingdom with a strong sense of justice for many years, never abandoning himself to
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