Jainism For Beginners Level 02

Author(s): Sayampurnashreeji
Publisher: Sayampurnashreeji

Page 97

Sthulibhadra for performing a formidable task. The other monks became jealous. Why was Sthulibhadras feat so much more impressive than their feat? After all, they had endured physical hardships while he had spent the monsoon in comfort & security. The Acharya explained that it was an impossible feat for anyone else. The first monk boasted that he could easily accomplish the same task the following monsoon. The Acharva tried to dissuade him from his intent because it was beyond his capability. The monk wanting to prove his spiritual strength to the Acharya, persisted & was reluctantly given permission for the next monsoon season.
was stunned, he asked her, "Are you crazy, Kosha? Why are you throwing away the precious gift that I have brought for you with so much difficulty?" Kosha replied, 'Why are you throwing away the precious life of monkhood that you have acquired with so much effort?' The humbled monk realized his foolishness & returned to his Acharya to report on his miserable failure. There was immense respect for Sthulibhadra from that day onwards.
Sthulibhadra played a major role in later years to preserve the oldest Jain scriptures known as the twelve Anga Agams & the fourteen Purvas. Jain history indicates that Acharya Bhadrabahu was the last monk who had complete knowledge of all the Jain scriptures. Acharya Bhadrabahu succeeded Acharya Sambhutivijay as head of the religious order. Both Acharya Sambhutivijay & Acharya Bhadrabahu were the disciples of Acharya Yashobhadra.
The next monsoon the monk went to Koshas place. The immodest pictures in the gallery were enough to excite him. When he saw glamorous Kosha, his remaining resistance melted away & he begged for her love. After seeing the pious life of Sthulibhadra, Kosha had learned the value of an ascetic life. In order to teach the monk a lesson, she agreed to love him only if he gave her a diamondstudded garment from Nepal, a town two -fifty miles north of Patliputra. The monk was so infatuated that he left immediately for Nepal, forgetting that monks were not supposed to travel during the monsoon. With considerate difficulty, he procured the garment & returned to Patliputra confident of receiving Kosha's love. Kosha accepted the beautiful garment, wiped her feet on it & threw it away in the trash. He
In those days, the Jain scriptures were memorized & passed on orally from guru to disciple. They were not documented in any form. Under the leadership of Acharya Bhadrabahu, Sthulibhadra thoroughly studied eleven of the twelve Anga Agams.
GANDHARS ACHARYAS
An extended famine prevented Sthulibhadra from studying the 12th Anga Agam known as Drashtivads containing the 14 Purvas. During the famine Acharya Bhadrabahu-Swami migrated south with 12000 disciples.
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