________________
Mah v ra was a Trthamkara and a Trthamkara's strength is incomparable with anyone. The small finger of a T rthamkara has infinitely more times the strength of a god, demon, men, Indra, cakravart s, etc. Their strength comes from accumulated deeds of many births. When Mah v ra became eligible for education, seeing an auspicious occasion his parents sent him to a teacher. When king of gods Indra found this out he thought what would this ordinary teacher teach the receptacle of three kinds of knowledge? Thinking thus Indra took the form of an old Brahminscholar and appeared before the teacher. He asked Mah v ra many scholarly questions. Mah v ra gave comprehensive and appropriate answers to all of them which surprised the teacher and the others present there. The Brahminscholar too raised some doubts before Mah v ra and getting right answers became speechless. Then the old Brahminsaid - "Oh teacher, present before you as a student is not any ordinary child but a great man who is an ocean of knowledge and well-versed in scriptures. Taking all the answers of Mah v ra the old Brahmin wrote 'Aindra Vy kara a'.
Marriage with Ya od
When Mah v ra attained youth, his parents placed a marriage proposal in front of him. Though Mah v ra was detached from sensual pleasures, he had resolved in his mother's womb, seeing her delight, that so long as his parents were alive he would not take initiation. In the same way, for the happiness of his parents and to complete his karmas of enjoyment (bhoga) he ultimately agreed to get married and was married at an auspicious time to Ya od , daughter of the chief of Vasamtapura, Samarav ra, endowed with all good qualities. There is reference to Mah v ra's wedding in all the vet mbara texts such as cr mga, Kalpas tra, va yakaniryukti, etc but the Digambara scriptures do not agree with this. In those texts while you find reference to the parents' request for Mah v ra to marry, proposals of many kings who offered their daughters and request for Jita atru's daughter Ya oda, there is no mention of the marriage-taking place. The basic reason for this is the use of the term “kum ra' and difference of opinion about its meaning. Both traditions accept that V sup iya, Mall, Nemin tha, Pr van tha and Mah v ra renounced at a young age. 'Kum ra' means both 'unmarried' and “crown prince'. In the Digambara texts such as Tiloyapa att , Harivam apura and Padmapura, these five T rthamkara are said to be 'kum ra' and the rest are said to have ruled. Lokaprak a mentions that
272
