Jainism For Beginners Level 01

Author(s): Sayampurnashreeji
Publisher: Sayampurnashreeji

Page 89

be a bold, intelligent, and enthusiastic young man, Nabhiraya entrusted the management of the kingdom to him.
When they felt hungry, they could pick fruit from the trees and bushes. There was enough flowing water for cleaning their bodies and quenching their thirst. As such, there was no struggle for existence or rivalry for survival, and people spent their lives in peace.
The people lived in tribes and had a leader known as a kulkar or king. Towards the end of the third Ara, there lived a Kulkar named Nabhiraya. He could peacefully manage the community of that time. In due course, his beautiful wife, Queen Marudevi, gave birth to Rishabha.
The world's conditions started changing after Rishbha was born. There was an increase in population and nature no longer remained as bountiful as it used to be. This gave rise to a struggle for the acquisition and accumulation of the necessities of life. A sense of jealousy and envy also arose in its wake. Nabhiraya. as the leader of the community, tried to restrain the struggle to the utmost possible extent. In due course, as Rishabha grew to
Rishabha wasavisionary,athinker, and an inventor. He foresaw that the struggle for survival would become worse unless some system of producing the necessities of life was created. He realized that people could make an effort for obtaining what they need from nature instead of relying exclusively on natural bounties. Being the genius that he was, he evolved the art of crop cultivation and taught people how to grow food and fiber. Thus, he ushered in what we call the age of material civilization. To make the lives of people more comfortable, he taught them how to make utensils, cook food, build houses, make clothes, cultivate land, and to raise animals like cows and horses. He also developed different arts and crafts whereby a variety of articles could be made from
wood, metal, and stone. Thus
the first city named Vinita came into existence. This city was later known as Ayodhya.
LIFE SKETCH OF TIRTHANKARAS