Jainism For Beginners Level 02

Author(s): Sayampurnashreeji
Publisher: Sayampurnashreeji

Page 98

Acharya Sthulibhadra succeeded him as the leader of the monks who stayed behind in Pataliputra. The hardships of the famine made it difficult for the monks to observe their code of conduct properly. In addition, many of the monks' memories failed them & many parts of the Anga Agams were forgotten.
Purvas & knowledge from the twelfth Agam. He transformed his body into a lion. When his sisters entered the cave, they found a lion instead of their brother. Fearful of what may have happened to him they went directly to Bhadrabahu-Swami. Acharya Bhadrabahu realized what had happened & asked the sisters to go back to the cave again. This time Sthulibhadra had resumed his original form & the sisters were joyful to see him alive & well.
The famine lasted for twelve years. After the famine, Sthulibhadra decided to recompile the Jain scriptures. A convention was held in Patliputra under the leadership of Sthulibhadra. Eleven of the twelve Anga; Agams were orally recompiled at the convention. None of the monk at the convention could remember the twelfth Anga & its fourteen Purvas. Only Acharya Bhadrabahu Swami had this knowledge but he had left to South India & was now in the mountains of Nepal to practice a special penance & meditation. The Jain Sangha requested Sthulibhadra & some other learned monks to go to Acharya Bhadrabahu-Swami & learn the twelfth Agam. Several monks undertook this long journey but only Sthulibhadra reached Nepal. He began to learn the twelfth Anga Agam & its fourteen Purvas under Acharya Bhadrabahu.
However, Bhadrabahu-Swami was disappointed that Sthulibhadra had misused his special power for such a trivial purpose. He felt that Sthulibhadra was not mature enough in his spiritual progress & therefore refused to teach him the remaining four Purvas. A chastised Sthulibhadra tried to persuade him to reconsider but Bhadrabahu-Swami was firm. It was only when the Jain Sangha requested Acharya Bhadrabahu to reconsider his decision that Sthulibhadra was allowed to learn the remaining four Purvas. But Acharya Bhadrabahu attached two conditions for Sthulibhadra:
GANDHARS ACHARYAS
He would not teach Sthulibhadra the meaning of the last four Purvas
Sthulibhadra could not teach these four Purvas to any other monk. Sthulibhadra agreed & learned the remaining four Purvas.
Once Sthulibhadra's sisters who were Sadhvis, decided to visit him in Nepal. At this time. Sthulibhadra had completed ten of the fourteen Purvas. He wanted to
impress them with the miraculous power 90 he had acquired from learning the ten