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Appendix XX
Tirthankara Mahāvira Jayanti*
"Obeisance to the victors (over 'senses'): Arhats; obeisance to the Liberated Souls, the Siddhas; obeisance to the Preceptors, the Acaryas, obeisance to the Spiritual Teachers, the Upadhyāyas, obeisance to all saints in the world, the Sadhus." This sublime five-fold obeisance: Namaskara Mantra, destroys all sins and is supremely auspicious - Namo arihantāṇaṁ..... paḍhamam havai mangalam (Avaśyaka-sutra, 1:2).
"Just as Airavata (the celestial elephant of Indra, the chief of Gods, that arose out of the milky ocean) is supreme among elephants, the lion amongst animals, Ganga among rivers, Garuda -the son of Venudeva among birds, similarly was Jñātaputra supreme (Tirthankara Mahāvīra) among those preaching emancipation. (Sūtrakṛtānga-sūtra, 1.6.21)
Tomorrow, Sunday, the sixteenth of April, 2000 AD, will mark the 2599th birth anniversary of Lord Mahāvīra, the last and 24th Tirthankara of the Jaina religion. He was born Vardhamana, to parents Siddhartha and Triśalā, on the 13th day of the waxing lunar fortnight (Śukla Trayodasi) of the month of
as
Caitra in 599 BC.
The story of the mothers of all 24 Tirthankaras getting the divinely auspicious dream of fourteen or sixteen sacred objects at the time of conception is invariably recorded in the biographies of all Tirthankaras. In fact, this is mostly common in the life of all great souls in most religions. Maya Devi, mother of Gautama, the
The Indian Express, 15 April 2000
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