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The sight of his brother's happiness and reparation removed Bahubali's last obstacle. Full enlightenment flashed on him; the god's thrones trembled, bringing Indra and others down to worship; winds wafted down heavenly flowers and the spray from the agitated waves of the Ganges of the sky; the drums of the gods sounded in the heavens ; a jewelled umbrella was contrived by divine artisans in the sky, and beneath it, a shining throne. Of themselves, fly whisks hovered at his sides, and the ground for his discourse also appeared. A great concourse of eager Yogis clustered around him, making him look like a moon encircled by stars.
It is interesting to compare Jinasena's account with Kannada poem of Boppana Pandita-another text of the southern Digambara tradition, composed around 1180, on the Gomata monolith of Sravana Belgola." The reason for Gomata's not attaining enlightenment quickly is given as pride, not sorrow; and reluctance to stand on any part of Bharata's domain. Realizing this, the latter says to him, "Give up the idea that your feet are in my territory; when one thinks of it, the territory is neither yours nor mine." Bharata later made a colossal image of his brother, in an area which became first infested with kukkuṭa sarpas, or "cock-serpents" (and came to be called Kukkutesvara), and then invisible to the carnal eye. The colossus of Sravana Belgola was carved as a substitute, as a "Southern Kukkutesvara".
Boppana's text has some striking images. The three worlds are together Gomata's abode-the serpents from its foundation, the earth its base, the points of the compass its walls, the chariots of the gods its towers and the clusters of stars its inner jewelled awning. The gods showered brilliant white flowers, like so many stars, on Gomata's lovely head when he won both his wrestling contest and his struggle against karma. They still occasionally do so on his statue, for a whole day; and it is a sight which delights women, children, old people and cowherds. What is the point of adoring the dying gods of the land (which only takes one deeper into the forest of births) when the contemplation of Gomata rids one of birth, old age, and other sorrows? For he is indeed the form of supreme soul, one who abandoned his two empires of desire (as Cupid incarnate) and the world (as victor over Bharata) for that of emancipation."
JAIN JOURNAL
We cannot end our examination of this theme without also seeing what Hemacandra has to say about it. As voicing the views of the
Boppana Pandita, op. et. loc. cit.
7 See also Epigraphia Carnatica, tom cit., p. 145.
8 Hemacandra, op. et. loc. cit.
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