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Rishibhashit : A Study
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Rishibhashit he says that as long as the desire for the world is there, the desire for wealth also remains, and vice-versa. As such a mendicant should abandon both, the desire for the world and the desire for wealth, and proceed on Gopath not Mahapath. Probably, Gopath here means that as the cows wander grazing in bits, the mendicant should wander taking alms and not giving trouble to anyone. Here Mahapath may have been used in the sense of normal wordly life or possession oriented tradition. This proves that in the end Yajnavalkya became a preacher of the path of detachment138.
In the vedic tradition, besides Brihadaranyak Upanishad, mentions about Yajnavalkya are also available in Mahabharat. In Shanti-parva he has been presented as giving discourse to Janak. This indicates that he must have been a Rishi contemporary of Janak.
The information according to the Jain tradition that he was a Rishi of the period of Arishtanemi does not appear to be correct. He was probably a Rishi of a much older period. However, on the basis of the comparative study of the preachings of Yajnavalkya, available in Brihadaranyak Upanishad and Rishibhashit, we can certainly infer that Jannavakka (Yajnavalkya) of Rishibhashit was none else but the Yajnavalkya of Upanishads.
13. METEJJA BHAYALI
The thirteenth chapter of Rishibhashit139 is about Metejja Bhayali. In Jain literature, besides Rishibhashit, Bhayali is mentioned in Samvayang140. According to Samvayang he is going to be the nineteenth Teerthankar (named Samvar) in the coming cycle of time (ascending), Two other Prakrit forms of the word Bhayali are available-Bhagali and Bhaggai. The seventh chapter of Antakritdasha in Sthanang-Sutra141 is supposed to be about Bhagali. Although this chapter is missing from the available editions, I am sure, in the ancient edition of Antakritdasha, this chapter must have existed and contained the life story or preachings of Bhagali. In Aupapatik there is a mention of a Kshatriya ascetic Bhaggai and his followers. It is possible that the followers of Bhayali or Bhagali were known as Bhaggai.
The main theme of Bhayali's preachings in Rishibhashit is liberation of soul. He states that only he, who is desirous of fruits, waters a plant. One, not wanting fruit does not water a plant. Only by fostering a plant fruit is available. If the plant is destroyed the fruit is automatically destroyed. As such he wants to convey that in order to get liberated from
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