Jain Society Houston TX 1995 11 Pratistha

Author(s): Jain Society Houston TX
Publisher: USA Jain Society Houston TX

Page 48

Celebrating Jain Society of Houston Pratishtha Mahotsav 1995
BHAGAWAN HISTORY
Rushubdeva
Tirthankara 1:
Rishabhadeva (Adinatha)
The first tirthankara of the Jainas, Rishabha, is not only the founder of the Jaina four-fold order, but is also the originator of the social organization, the first lord of the earth and also the first to renounce the world to embrace and indicate the spiritual path.
In the Jaina view, the advent of the first tirthankara became necessary in that phase of the time-cycle when lapses had just started appearing on the part of human beings and when due to the growing barrenness of the subsistence trees (kalpabrikshas), food was becoming more difficult to get. So some leader of men was necessary to establish order and to impart training in the art of living.
Most illustrious was the reign of the first monarch, who looked on his people as his children, He took ministers to assist him in the administration of the state-craft; he organised the police, the army, the cavalry and the elephant corps; he built chariots and appointed commanders; he introduced the art of raising good breed of camels, cows, buffaloes, bulls and mules. He taught men to cultivate food, to make fire and use it in cooking. He taught them how to make vessels and built houses for a comfortable living. He trained people as barbers to give hair-cut, as porters to produce utensils, as painters, masons and weavers. In fact, these were the first artisan classes of the human society. But above all, he raised a huge progeny of hundred boys and two girls in order to inculcate a love of procreation among human beings. He established seventy-two arts and crafts and evolved a script and transmitted them to posterity through his own children. Some of the early inscriptions of Indian history have made use of this script. He organised the society into fourfold order, viz., ugra who were city dads, bhoga who were ministers, rajanya who were members of the king's household and kshatri who comprised the rest. From him also the people learned private ownership of property- to call a thing to be one's own.
We need not go into the details of the previous birth experiences of Rishabha nor into his ancestry which consisted of a line of twins who later lived as man and wife. His own parents were patriarch (kulakara) Nabhi and his consort Marudevi. His conception and birth were duly celebrated by the celestial beings. He was born on the eighth day of the dark half of Chaitra. As was the natural order of the time, along with him was born his sister and would be consort Sumangala. The boy was named Rishabha, since he bore the mark of a bull on his thigh and his mother too saw a bull in her first dream. When he was one year old, seated on the laps of his father, he received a piece of sugarcane (ikshu) as a homage from Indra, the leader of gods, by virtue of which the line took the name as Ikshvaku. At the ripe age he was married to his partner-at-birth Sumangala, and also another Sunanda who, so goes the story, had lost her partner-at-birth in an accident and was recovered weeping from the wilderness. In fact, the marriage between Rishabha and Sunanda was the first ceremonial marriage outside a partner-at-birth and, it appears, was so ordained in order to introduce the ceremonial. Prior to this, twins, initially brother and sister, used to live as man and wife on the attainment of youth without any social ceremony. Then Rishabha, in deference to the wishes of his people, ascended the throne as the first monarch, his ancestors being all patriarchs by consent, without full royal authority. At the divine order, a city was then constructed to be his capital. Initially called Vineeta because of the obeisance of the people to their first lord, the city later became famous as Ayodhya.
With all these things accomplished, his mission as a monarch was now nearing its completion. At right moment he had realisation of this. He then decided to renounce the world and spend a year in making gifts out of riches provided by the gods. He renounced his kingdom in favor of his eldest son Bharata and gave suitable territories to others. Then started his mission as a spiritual man and spiritual leader. Needless to add, the moment of his renunciation was availed of by many others, kings as well a lay people, who followed in the footsteps of the great leader.
Followed by a large retinue of monks, Rishabha now took to a wandering career, sleepless and without food and drink. The lay people did not know how to make an offer of food and drink to a monk. The monks that were following him were all exhausted. Utterly starved and breathless, they broke away from him, took fruits and roots from a forest and drank the nacterine water from the Ganga, But the lord was unpertubed and thus the year rolled off.
"Truth comes only from being alone, without attachments and karmic matter of any kind"
(Author Unknown)
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