Jain Center of America NY 2005 06 Pratishtha

Author(s): Jain Center of America NY
Publisher: USA Jain Center America NY

Page 153

SHRI ASHTAPAD MAHA TIRTH
Past, Present and Future
Dr. Kumarpal Desai
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History and researchers are baffled - where is the mountain Ashtapad in the Himalayan range? The Hindu scriptures, Jain literature and Buddha scriptures all have references about Ashtapad but still the search has remained inconclusive and its location not found. The Jain centre of America - New York has launched a campaign to discover its exact location. The first Tirthankar Bhagwan Rishabhdev was the first to establish social code of governance and symbolised this importance of renunciation and penance, and attained Nirvana (final emancipation) at the Ashtapad Mountain.
There are numerous places of Jain pilgrimage but five of them are the most important ones and hence are known as Maha Tirth and one of them is Ashtapad.
The places where other Tirthankars attained Nirvana do exist today - Sametshikhar, Girnar, Pavapuri and Champapuri - and are visited by a large number of pilgrims. The second Tirthankar Shri Ajitnath was born in Ayodhya (North India) and attained Nirvana at Sametshikhar and the pilgrims flock this sacred place. What baffles people is the fact that the first Tirthankar Bhagwan Rishabhdev was also born in Ayodhya but his place of Nirvana is not to be found. The four other Maha Tirths exist, but the fifth Ashtapad is still undiscovered. It is believed that Ashtapad is somewhere among the snow-clad Himalayan peaks, about 168 miles North from Badrinath on the way to Mount Kailash. It is about seven miles from Mansarovar.
Thousands of years ago the first Tirthankar Bhagwan Rishabhdev attained Nirvana here. After his Nirvana, his son Bharat Chakravarti constructed a gemstone-studded palace in his memory on the Asthapad Mountain. 24 idols of Jain Tirthankars were installed in it. It is believed that since there are eight steps to be climbed to reach the mountain it is known as Ashtapad. The Tirth is also referred to by such names as Ratnamay, Rajatadri, Sfatikachal in some scriptures.
Description of Ashtapad is found in ancient volumes. The first reference is in Acharang Niryukti and it is referred to as Maha Tirth in a very ancient text Ekadashangadi Agam. The final sermon of Bhagwan Mahavir is found in Shri Uttaradhyayan Sutra. According to it anyone charamsariri who undertakes pilgrimage to Ashtapad will attain salvation. There are references and discussion about the Tirtha in Avashyak Niryukti, Nishithchurni, Vividh Tirthkalpa, Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth kalp Gyan Prakash Diparnave and other volumes, while details about Shri Rishabhdev Bhagwan are found in Uttarpurana. The discription in uttarpurana refers to Shri Rishabhdev's son having built a gemstone-studded shrine in which were installed 72 idols of three chovisi - The past, present and future. Shri Gautamswami had undertaken pilgrimage to Ashtapad through his special powers. Siddhastavan Sutra has the description of the order in which the idols are found on Ashtapad Mountain. They were installed in four rows of four, eight, ten and two.
A detailed description of Ashtapad Tirth is given in Trishashti-Shalaka-Purusha Charitra of Hemchandracharya. In the beginning of its tenth canto, it is said that anyone who would spend a night here and worship the idols, he would be a liberated soul. According to Pujya Sahajanandghanji, three chovisis of 72 idols are covered in snow. A Mangol Mendicant has said that Shri Rishabhdev Bhagwan practised penance on the Ashtapad Mountain. This reference is found in Kanjur and Tanjur texts. The description of Tirthankar's Nirvana is also found in ancient texts housed in Potala Palace which was the earlier abode of Dalai Lama. These descriptions show that, unlike other pilgrim places, it was not easy for ordinary people to visit this Tirth.
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