Book Title: Introduction to Jainism and its Culture
Author(s): Balbhadra Jain
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore

Previous | Next

Page 185
________________ use. Putting a lump of clay on the broad temples of an elephant he taught them how to mould and fire pots. At this juncture when the period of enjoyment was at its end and the period of action or effort was at its beginning, Nābhirāya began a new era by providing a new system to the human society on this planet. Therefore, he is also called an epoch-maker. It is, indeed, true that he laid the foundation of human civilization by making earthen pots and showing the use of grains for subsistence. ***** BHAGAVĀNA RŞABHADEVA BIRTH On Indra's (king of gods) command gods created the city of Ayodhya. First of all five Jain temples were constructed, one in each cardinal direction and one in the center of the city. After this a grand palace for Nābhirāya was made and then houses with all facilities for the public. Once the city was built they brought Nābhirāya and queen Marudevi into Ayodhya with due honour and courtesy. With the royal couple came many other people who were allotted houses. Besides this, many more people were brought from jungles and rehabilitated in the city. Thus Ayodhya became the first center of civilized society. This was the beginning of human civilization. One night Marudevi was sleeping in her soft bed in her bedroom. During the last quarter of the night she saw sixteen dreams. The dreams were symbolic. They augured that a Tīrthankara has descended in her womb. In due course he will destroy all karmas, become Bhagavāna and bless the world with beatitude. The pious date on which the being that was to be the first Tirthankara descended into the womb of his mother was Āsādha Kșsņā second (the second day of the dark fortnight of the month of Āsādha). The fetus continued to develop in the womb normally. The mother too had no discomfort due to pregnancy. A soul becomes a Tīrthankara due to extremely meritorious karmas (punya). Even the 168 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334