Heart of Jainism

Author(s): Mrs Sinclair Stevenson
Publisher: Mrs Sinclair Stevenson

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MAHĀVIRA'S PREDECESSORS
ascetics to join his community or sangha, who eventually
all attained mokşa with him. His emblem is the horse. 4. Abhi. The fourth Tirthankara owes his name to the fact that nandana. the god Indra used to come down and worship (abhinanda)
him in Vanitā, where his parents, Saṁvara and Siddārtha Rāņi, ruled. He attained mokşa accompanied by a thou. sand monks, as indeed did all the first eleven Tirthankara except Supārsvanātha. Abhinandana has the ape for his sign; he was born ten lakhs of crores of sāgara of time after his predecessor. His height was three hundred and
fifty bow-shots. 5. Suma- The legend about the fifth Tirtharkara, Sumatinātha, tinātha. is more interesting; he was born in Kankaņapura, where
his father, a Rajput named Megharatha, was king ; his mother's name was Sumangaļā. The child was called Sumatinātha, because even before his birth his mother's intellect (sumati) was so sharpened. To prove the queen's ability, a story is told resembling that of the judgement of Solomon. An old Brāhman died, leaving two wives; both women claimed the only son as theirs, and the dispute was taken to the queen to settle, who decreed, as Solomon did (and with similar results), that the living child should be cut in two. This Tirtharkara's sign is sometimes given as a red goose, but others say it is a red partridge. He was born nine lakhs of crores of sāgara after Abhinandana,
and his height was three hundred bow-shots. 6. Pad. Susimā, the mother of the sixth Tirthankara, longed inapra. before his birth to sleep on a bed of red lotuses (padma),
with the result that her son was always the colour of a red lotus, which flower he took for his emblem. His father, Dhara, was the Rajput king of Kaušāmbi. Padmaprabhu was born ninety thousand crores of sāgara of time after his predeces.
sor; his height was two hundred and fifty bow-shots. 7. Supār. The father of the next Tirthankara was the Rajput king śvanātha. of Benares ; but his wife suffered from leprosy in both
her sides. This dreadful disease was cured before the
bhu.