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Celebrating Jain Society of Houston Pratishtha Mahotsav 1995
He was now at Hastinapura and he broke his fast here with cane juice offered by his own grandson Sreyansa Kumara who was resigning here. For, at the very sight of the Lord the prince could know what type of food was acceptable to a monk and the mode of offer and accordingly he made the offer which was accepted. This event took place on the third day in the second half of Vaisakha when the gods arranged a non-ending shower of gems to celebrate the occasion which henceforth became known as the akshaya-tritiya day. This day is held auspicious by all Indians- Jaina as well as Hindu. After the lord's departure, Sreyansa Kumara erected a holy altar at the place where the Lord had broken his fast and engaged himself to worship it.
Bharata new took his seat in the congregation and listened to the Lord's discourses. Several hundred sons and grandsons of Bharata renounced the world to join the holy order. Brahmi along with many other ladies of the royal household was initiated into nunhood. But Sundari was prevented by her brother, the king; for, she was needed to accept the vow of a sravika, as the king himself accepted the vow of a sravaka. It was in this way that the four segments of the Jaina spiritual order, monks, nuns, lay disciples female, were provided at the first congregation held by the Lord. These four segments characterise the Jaina spiritual order to this day.
Once, in the course of his wanderings, the Lord reached the kingdom of Bahuvali. He halted in the park outside the city of Taxila. The king having received the news of the Lord's arrival gave orders for a full decoration of the town and an elaborate reception. All this, however, took time and when at last the king reached the park, the Lord had already departed. This was highly distressing and the king was penitent. The ministers prevailed upon him to have a darsana of the Lord's holy footprints and to feel himself to be in the presence of the Lord. Bahuvali did accordingly.
Even the order of ganadharas (spiritual stalwarts who were named leaders of different ganas or church-segments under the Lord) was named by the Lord. This order was headed by one of Bharata's sons. He gave the fundamentals of the Jaina religion - the sutras, sutrarthas, dravyas, gunas, paryayas and nayas. Thus, the Lord established the tirtha and equipped it with complete tenets, because of which he became the First Tirthankara.
When Rishabha was at the height of spiritual power, Bharata, by dint of his world conquest, was at the acme of his temporal power. A chakra-ratna was born in his armoury. With the help of this he conquered the six segments of the land and became a chakravarti monarch. So goes the tradition, that the country took its name as Bharata-varsha.
The Lord's wanderings continued. He passed speechless through the lands of the non-pure (mlechchlas and yavanas) and impressed him through his austerities. In this way, many years passed by and he reached the Sakatakmukha park which was to the north of Purimatala. In this park, he practiced various austerities, got rid of karmabondage that envelops right knowledge and right vision and that is obstructive of spiritual ascent, and thus reached a higher stature. At this stage, he attained the knowledge of the free and the occasion was duly celebrated by the gods.
With his earthly mission nearing completion, the Lord gave up his mortal frame through fasting. His final moment was spent on the Ashtapada mountain (Mount Kailasa). This was an occasion of great sorrow for all the categories of beings, a great event for the universe, the exit of tirthankara. The Lord had left behind a huge family of spiritual stalwarts who were to uphold the Lord's path on the earth and propagate it to generations yet to be born.
The life of Rishabha as recorded in the Jaina scriptures is corroborated by the Bhagavata wherein he has been acknowledged as an incarnation of Vishnu. Even the Rig Veda contains a high praise about him as follows:
The news of the Lord attaining omniscience was conveyed to king Bharata who was at this moment on a visit to his grand-mother Marudevi, Rishabha's own mother, who had become blind through sorrow after her son's departure. The king in the company of his grand-ma, and the rest from the royal household, set out for the congregation park where preparations for one were in vision and witnesses the illustrious assemblage with its pomp and grandeur. By another miracle she herself acquired the knowledge of the free, discarded her mortal frame right on the elephant's back and became the first to enter the domain of the siddhas in the current decision. Her body was duly consecrated to the Ocean of Milk by the gods themselves.
Rishabham masamananam sapatnanam bisasahim Hantaram satrunam kridhi biralam gopitam gabam.
-Rig veda, X. 12.166
(Oh Divinity! Do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a great god, like Rishabha, who by becoming an arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher, may become the destroyer of enemies.)
"The truth is out there somewhere; it is man's ultimate destiny to go look for it
(Author Unknown)
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