Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

Page 25

(4) As regards Bhadrabähu, the second, there is no proper record of his time and therefore it is impossible to arrive at any conclusion. There is a gap of more then 300 years between Bhadrabähu mentioned in the Digambara texts and Varähmihir's timings, therefore the stotra could not have been composed by Bhadrabähu (Digambara) either. In addition, there is no mention of the Uvasaggaharam Stotra in the Digambara books.
(5) However traditional belief cannot be ignored either. This says that Bhadrabähu - the first- composed the Uvasaggaharam Stotra. By and large Jains subscribe to this proposition.
5.4 Subject Matter of the Stotra
As the Uvasaggaharam Stotra has been composed in praise of the twenty-third fordmaker (Tirthankara) called Pärshvanätha, we will briefly examine his life.
Pärshvanatha was born in 677 BC. This date has been derived from the SBC and a book called the Kalpa-Sootra. It has now been accepted by historians that Mahavira, twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara, was born in 599 BC and died in 527 BC The Kalpa-Sootra and various sources suggest that Pärshvanatha died 250 years before the death of Mahävira and he lived for 100 years. This makes his birth year as 877 BC and death in 777 BC. Pärshvanätha's idols are found in hundreds of temples in India and abroad. His idol /image usually has a hood of seven or more cobras. A cobra or serpent is considered to be a symbol of Pärshvanätha. In the state of Rajasthän, one can find a temple of Pärshvanätha in almost every town. The maximum number of temples has been constructed in devotion to Pärshvanätha. Pärshvanätha died (attained Nirväna) on the hills of Sammetshikhar in the state of Bihär. This is one of the most revered places of pilgrimage for all Jains in India.
5.5 The Life of Pärshvanätha:
There lived a king called Ashvasena in the sacred township of Käshi. He had a queen by the name of Vämädevi. Both were religious and charitable people. When the soul of Pärshvanatha was in Vamadevi's womb, she saw fourteen' auspicious objects in a dream. Astrologers and the diviners had interpreted that a great son will be born to the household2. Vämädevi gave birth to a child on the tenth day of the dark half of the month of Posh. (now the first half of the month of Mägshirsha). During the pregnancy, the mother had seen a black cobra next to her (pärshva) in the bed. That is why He is known as Pärshvanatha.
Once young Pärshva was standing in his palace and watching the people of the town pass by. He noticed that lots of people were going to the outskirts of the town. Pärshva inquired about this and he was told that a great tapas ( a man who does
As per Kalpa Sutra (see Jacobi's translation or Lalwani's translation) all Tirthankara's mothers see 14 auspicious objects/ events in their dreams.
Jacobi's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol 22. The whole story is as told in Trishshti Shalaka Purusha Charitra by Hemchandra (11th Century Acharya). Published by CM Shah. Unava, Gujarat. 1939
2 The Contemporariety and the chronology of Mahavira and Buddha by Muni Shri Nagrajji.. Today and Tomorrow's Agency, New Delhi. Published 1970/.
25