Tirthankar Mahavir and His Sarvodaya Tirth

Author(s): Hukamchand Bharilla, K C Lalwani
Publisher: Kundkund Kahan Digambar Jain Trust

Page 31

BHAGAVAN MAHAVIRA : PREVIOUS BIRTHS
To understand Bhagavan Mahavira, it is not enough to look at his life as Mahavira; for, the process of his final liberation had started much earlier and is spread over his many past lives. So in order to understand this process by which he became a Bhagavan and a Tirthankara, we must have a look at his previous lives
There is another reason why this is important, which is that it gives an insight into the process of transformation by which the soul attains the status of a Paramatman, or, to put it in the reverse order, it indicates why a soul continues to pass through the cycle of life and death for not understanding as to how to stop the cycle
In his previous lives, if Bhagavan Mahavira had enjoyed life in the heavens and became a Narayana and a Cakravarti many a times, many a times, again, he had suffered the heaviest pain in the hells and passed through the lives of mobile and immobile beings So it is necessary to highlight some of his previous lives in concise. These, as depicted in the Jaina Purānas, are as follows:
In eastern Videha, in the isle of Jambudvipa, on the northern bank of the Sita, in the country named Puskalavatı, there was a city named Pundarikini Near the city, there was a forest named Madhuka where lived the king of the Bhilas (a tribe) named Pururava The name of his wife was Kalika
Through the same forest was once passing a nudist monk, who was a great penancer, Sagarsena by name. Mistaking him for a deer, as the Bhila king raised his bow and was about to fix an arrow to hunt him, his wife caught his hand and softly said, “Dear! What are you doing? This is not a deer. This appears to be a forest deity who is passing.” Thus being saved from a great sin of homicide, the husband and wife came to
ak, bowed before him with great devotion, heard his