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BHARATA
159
Glory of a Tirthamkara, and through a wrong one, be degraded into lower forms after death. Bharata, therefore, was never upset at anything; he always knew precisely what was the best thing to do under any given circumstances, and handled complex and complicated problems with a grace of ease that endeared him to all !
Bharata had a missionary's zeal for the propagation of Jainism. He laid down rites (kriyas) for the admission of all classes of men into the Jaina Religion and the Jaina Society, providing even for the fixing of the castes of the new converts. Even malekshas could be admitted into Jainism without objection or hitch in his time!
Such was Bharata, the illustrious son of the Most Illustrious father, the first Emperor of
Aryāvarta, and the Founder of the Aryan Culture, who lent his name to the Land of the Noble Race, which it still bears! Bharata will undoubtedly live in the memories of men, so long as Bhāratvarşa remains above the waters to remind men of the first Great Emperor of the current half-cycle !
