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NIRVANA OF BHAGAVĀNA
After his wanderings in northern India Bhagavāna Neminātha arrived at Giranāra hills. Ceasing all activities he commenced his final meditation. Destroying the remaining non-vitiating karmas he attained nirvana at Giranāra hills on Aşadha Kșsņā eighth. He became Siddha Bhagavāna. He got eternal freedom from the cycles of reincarnations.
THE HISTORICITY OF NEMINĀTHA
Bhagavāna Neminātha was a cousin of Krşņa. Like Krsna he too was a historical person. Detailed biography of Neminātha is available in Jain Purāņas (hagiographies). While writing about Kșşņa historians have accepted him as a historical person but neglected his contemporary Neminātha. This is a matter of concern.
Although there is no uniformity in the details of Yaduvamsa lineage available at various places in Vedic literature, Ariştanemi (another name of Neminātha) and Neminātha find mention at many places. Harivaṁśapurāņa20 states that Vrsņi had two sons, Svafalka and Chitraka. Among the twelve sons of Chitraka one was Aristanemi. Thus Neminātha and Krşņa were cousins and their grandfather was Yudhajita.
In Prabhāsa Purāna Nemi Jina finds mention as – “On the pious hill Raivataka (Giranāra) Nemi Jina got liberated.”
In the Prabhāsa section of Skanda Purāņa it is mentioned that -
'During the last part of his life Vāmana indulged in austerities. As a result Siva appeared before him. That Siva was sitting in the lotus posture. His complexion was dark and he was unclad. Vāmana called him Neminātha. In this torturous Kalikāla (the worst of the four Vedic ages, the current one) he is the destroyer of sins. Merely beholding him and touching him will give benefits of millions of yajñas.
In Jain tradition also Neminātha is described as dark complexioned, unclad, and sitting in lotus posture. Another fact is that Siva is not generally believed to be dark complexioned. This is a common feature in Vedic Purāņas that they show great men of non
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