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ऋषभ
अजित
सम्भव
अभिनन्दन
सुमति
पद्मप्रभ
LIFE AS HOUSEHOLDER
सिंह
गज
Conditions before the Birth
About 2594 years back (599 B.C.) in the eastern region of India, 'a bright source of spiritual light dawned. He became famous as Vardhaman Mahavir. ]
During the period of Bhagavan Parshvanath, the feudal system of rule prevailed in India. However, the beginnings of democratic system had started appearing on the political scene. It was the dawn of the localized republics. After his Nirvana the republics started expanding and Vaishali emerged as the capital of the federation of small republics. Maharaj Chetak, a staunch follower of the Parshva Tradition, was the president of the Vaishali republic and the federation.
On the northern shore of the Ganges a large and powerful group of Lichhavi Kshatriyas favoured democratic system. The six prominent clans that formed this republic were-Ugra, Bhog, Rajanya, Ikshvaku, Lichhavi, Jnat, and Kaurav, and nine chiefs represented them.
Another union was named Malla and it was divided into two parts-northwestern and south-eastern. The capital city of north-west was Kushinara and that of south-east was Pava. The nine chiefs of the Federation cf Malla republics were also staunch supporters of the democratic system. Nine Mallas and nine Lichhavis combined to form a well organized apex union called the Union of Vajji Republics. The Lichhavis of the Vaishali republic were Suryavanshi Kshatriyas, the descendents of Maryada Purushottam Ram. Before the advent of Bhagavan Mahavir and the Buddha, these were famous as the Videhas, but later, the name Lichhavi became more popular. Still, as a cultural group they always retained their identity as the Videhas. In the Jair literature Maharaj Chetak has been mentioned as Videhraj, his sister, Trishla, as Videhdinna. Mahavir has also been mentioned as Videh Sukumal. All this is indicative of the higher religious and cultural status of the state of Videh.
वृषभ
लक्ष्मी
चन्द्र
The Royal Family of Vaishali
To the north of Vaishali, there was a suburb named Kundpur Sannivesh. There was a colony of Brahmans in the southern parts of Kundpur. The ch ef of these Brahmans was Rishabhdatta and his wife was Devananda. Although a rich Brahman and a scholar of the Vedas and Vedangas, Rishabhdatta was a devotee of Bhagavan Parshvanath.
In the northern parts of Kundpur there was a colony of Kshatriyas of the Jnat clan. The colony was known as Kshatriya Kundpur. Siddharth was the chief here. Because of his great valour and wealth he was respectfully addressed as Raja or Narendra. He was a highly influential member of the Vaishali republic Illustrated Tirthankar Charitra
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