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Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
Yaśasvī and Sunandā. From Yaśasvi Rşabha has hundred sons, the oldest one was Bharata and a daughter named Brāhmi, while Sunandā gave birth to only one son Bahubali and a daughter named Sundari
Rşabha with Indra and other gods created geographical features such as rivers and forests; he taught the people types of subsistence activities and categorised the society into three sections — the Ksatriyas, the Vaisyas and the Sūdras. Rşabha also created a code of conduct to ensure social order. The people crowned him as their king.
Rşabha was fulfilling his royal duties but his prime duty was to propagate the Jaina faith on earth. To remind his mission Indra came on earth with celestial dancer, Nīlāñjanã in the court of Rşabha. Nīlāñjanā collapsed and vanished as she danced in the court of Rşabha. This deeply perturbed Rşabha and he decided to renounce the world and assume the life of an ascetic. He handed over the responsibility of kingdom to his son Bharata and appointed Bahubali as the next in command.
The gods prepared Rsabha for dīksā lustrating him with holy water. Rşabha stepped into a palanquin called Sudarsana for renunciation which was carried by the gods outside the city. Rşabha divested himself from royal dress and ornaments and plucked out his hair in five handfuls and seated under a banyan tree. The gods celebrated dikşākalyanaka of Rşabha. After six months of continuous fasting Rsabha went place to place in search of food and at Hastinapura he was offered the sugarcane juice and his fast came to an end.
Rşabha continued to practice meditation and penance and attained Kevalajñāna. Indra prepared Samavasaraṇa with the help of other gods (see detail Samavasarana, (pp. 414-417, Pls. 291-293) where Rsabha gave a discourse on the Jaina philosophy.
On the day Rşabha attained Kevalajñana, a cakra- ratna appeared in the armoury of Bharata which meant that Bharata was destined to become a Cakravartin. Bharata offered prayer to cakra-ratna; he visited his father to hear his preach and started his campaign and
established his supremacy over various regions and rulers. He also sent messages to his brothers to accept his supremacy. Except Bāhubali, all of his brothers renounced their kingdom and accepted Bharata's supremacy. Bāhubali challenged Bharata to war and defeated him in the first two duels, but lastly realising that to kill Bharata is to commit a sin he begged his brothers and fled to the forest. In the forest he remained in meditation for so long that creepers wound themselves around his body and bird nested in his beard. After a long meditation Bahubali could not attain Kevalajñana. Bharata along with his two sisters visited Bahubali on the advice of a Tirthankara and realised his pride; Bāhubali then attained Kevalajñāna and mokşa.
The painted manuscripts of Adipurāņa, on paper, belong to 15th-16h century A.D. These manuscripts are painted in Western Indian style, Caurapañcāśikā style and Rajasthani school. The illustrated manuscripts of Adipurāna were painted at Delhi, Delhi-Gwalior, Mozamabad (near Jaipur) and Palam (near Delhi). The colours that dominate in the manuscripts are red, green and golden yellow. However, the red colour is used for the background. The illustrations show the different episodes from the Adipurāņa like Gautama Ganadhara and king Śreņika, Nābhi and Marudevi, city of Ayodhya, dream of Marudevi, Nabhi informing Marudevī the conception of Tirthankara Rsabha, birth of Tīrthankara Rşabha (Pl. 248), Indra's procession to Mt. Meru with child Rsabha and others. The manuscripts of Adipurāņa are known from different collections such as Digambara Jain Atiśaya Kșetra (Sri Mahāvīrajī), Jaipur, Sri Digambar Jain Nayā Mandir, Delhi as well as private collections. REFERENCES
S.V. Doshi, 'An Illustrated Adi-Purana of A.D. 1404 from Yoginipur, Chhavi, Banaras, 1972; Saryu Doshi, Masterpieces of Jain Painting, Marg Publications, 1985; Moti Chandra, Jaina Miniature Paintings from Western India, Ahmedabad, 1948.
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