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Jinamañjari, Volume 20, No.2, October 1999
TIRTHANKARA NEMI AND THE BHAGAVADGĪTĀ S.P. Kagwal M.D. and
M.Y. Dharmapal, Bangalore, India
The Bhagavad-Gīta is not an interpolation in the Mahābhārata, but rather, the heart and soul around which is built an epic story. As such, it is considered one of the three fundamental works of Hinduism along with the Upanisads and the Veda sutras. What is not well known is that the Gītā is also an essential part of the Jaina tradition. According to the custom, it was during the time of twenty-second Tirthankara Neminatha that Vasudeva, Baladeva and the Pandavas lived and the war of the Mahābhārata took place. The Dhavala Tikā, quoting verses regarding the vamsas, mentions Kuru vamsa and Hari vamsa, the Nārāyaṇas, Baladevas and Pratinārāyaṇas. Samudra Vijaya and Śivā were the adherents of Neminatha and his cousins were Krishna and Balabhadra. Therefore, in all the biographies of Neminatha, the story of the Mahabharata has been related. But the majority of these purāņas, which are primarily in Sanskrit and Kannada, are more concerned with Arişṭanemi.
Jain Education International
The Mahabharata war was mainly a fight between Krishna, who was supported by the Pandavas, and Jarasindhu supported by the Kauravas. Kamsa's wife Jivadyasa on the death of her husband at the hands of Krishna complained to her father who attacked Krishna. The war ended with the death of Jarasindhu at the hands of Krishna himself. The Uttaradhyayānasūtra, the Praśna Vyakarana, the Antagada Dasão, the Nayadhamma Kahão, the Samavāyāngasūtra, the Nirayāvali give the story of Krisna, and the Bhagavad Gītā has little or no place. According to the Jaina tradition, the relationships of the YaduKura-Pandu vamsas were as follows:
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