Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 47

Lessons of Ahimsā and Anekānta for Contemporary Life
Jainas neither glorified the bravery involved in such violence nor held forth the prospect of birth in heaven to the protagonists, whether winner or loser.
The first story is the tale of Bahubali, who is placed by the Jainas at the beginning of the present time-cycle, which ushered in human civilization. During this golden age, Rşabha, the first of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, had just appeared in the world and introduced both the secular laws legislating the conduct of society as well as the monastic laws governing the pursuit of salvation. When Rşabha renounced the world to become the first Jaina mendicant of this age, his eldest son, Bharata, claimed kingship over his entire domain. But the younger son, Bahubali, claimed title to a share of the kingdom and refused to submit to the rule of his elder brother. Disregarding the principle of ahimsā, he challenged his brother to face him and his army on the battlefield. Bharata recognized that his duty as a king compelled him to force the submission of his insubordinate brother, and war seemed unavoidable.
The king's advisors, alarmed at the prospect of mass carnage, proposed single combat between the two brothers as a means of settling the dispute. The brothers agreed. In a wrestling combat that followed, Bahubali defeated his brother Bharata and attained a decisive victory. At this point, one would have expected that Bāhubali would cap his triumph by proclaiming himself king. But the Jaina texts maintain instead that he was overcome by great remorse for having humiliated his brother and instantly awakened to both futility of sovereignty and bonds of possessions, which have blinded him to the true nature of the soul. To the great astonishment of the spectators and the defeated king, Bahubali discarded his royal insignia and renounced the world and declared himself a Jaina monk. The storytellers relate
For accounts of Bahubali and Bharata, see Pannalal Jain, ed. Adipurāna of Jinasena (Varanasi:1963): chapter 36; Helen M. Johnson trans., Trişastišalakāpuruşacaritra (The Lives of Sixty-three Illustrious Persons) by Hemacandra, vol. I (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1962).
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