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Keshi Swami
Y) PROFILE
Name: Keshi Swami - also known at various times as Keshi Kumar, Keshi Shraman and Acharya Keshi. When: Lived between 166-250 years after Bhagwan Parshvanath attained Moksha. Role: Last known spiritual head of the Parshvanath lineage. Famous For: • King Prasanajit (also known as Pradeshi) was a stanch non-believer who became a
highly devoted Jain Shravak under Keshi Swami.
Famous philosophical and theological discussion with Gautam Swami. Recorded in:
Rāja-prashniya Sutra - part of the Upānga-āgams (twelve ancient scriptures). Chapter 23 of the Uttradhyanan Sutra.
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Rai
eshi Swami was a revered and learned Acharya who was the last listed spiritual leader of
Tirthankar Parshvanath's order. Keshi Swami was believed to have been a contemporary of Tirthankar Mahavir.
According to lore, there was a king named Prasanajit who was a hedonistic non-believer who was cruel to animals and disrespectful towards ascetics. He once sent his charioteer to a neighbouring city where Keshi Swami, a staunch Parshvanath disciple, was delivering a sermon on the four vows of restraint, as propagated by Parshvanath Bhagwan. The impressed charioteer soon became a disciple of and even persuaded King Prasanajit to visit Keshi Swami.
The chief disciple of Mahavir Bhagwan, Gautam Swami met with Keshi Swami and in true Jain style these two leaders discussed and debated these issues in a very respectful manner to provide their followers with an explanation about these differences. The followers of Parshvanath Bhagwan had four main vows - not to kill, not to lie, not to steal and not to have attachment / possession (aparigraha). Bhagwan Mahavir was preaching the same vows and restraints, but with the addition of chastity/celibacy. Gautam Swami explained that the fifth vow of Mahavir Bhagwan was not the addition or creation of an entirely new vow, but rather a clarification of the vow of aparigraha. Whilst people in Parshvanath's time would have undoubtedly understood celibacy to be part of the aparigraha vow, Mahavir Bhagwan knew that the changing times and society needed this to be stated explicitly in order to maintain the sanctity of the vows.
The cynical King had many questions about the nature of the soul, but Keshi Swami was able to answer all of his questions to satisfaction. King Prasanajit became a Jain Shravak and exchanged his hedonistic life for the vows of the mendicant. It is believed that the king was reborn in heaven, and it has been prophesised that he will eventually be reborn as a mendicant and attain Nirvana. Despite his mistakes and behaviour earlier in his life, this was the nature of King Prasanajit's spiritual progress after fully accepting and practicing the teachings of Parshvanath Bhagwan, as learnt from Keshi Swami.
This famous dialogue is described in the Chapter 23 of the Uttradhyanan Sutra. According to this source, Keshi Swami was satisfied with Gautam Swami's answers and explanations and after this point Keshi Swami and the other monks and nuns of the Parshvanath tradition came to accept the leadership of Mahavir Bhagwan. It is significant to note that the Digambar tradition rejects the authenticity of this dialogue.
eshi Swami was the spiritual leader of Parshvanath Bhagwan's church. At the same
time there were many followers of a similar doctrine that was being propagated by Tirthankar Mahavir, who lived at that time. The disciples of these two different Tirthankars were troubled and confused by the small differences in clothing and vows between the long-established teachings of Parshvanath Bhagwan and the more recent Mahavir Bhagwan.
It is believed that the Jain philosophy is timeless and that each Tirthankar comes to revive the same philosophy. This philosophy might be given a slightly different form and expression to suit the time, place and behaviour of society at that time, yet the core philosophy remains the same. Indeed it is thi flexibility and non-absolutist attitude that keeps the Jain religion as a philosophy in progress that can respond to rapidly changing societies. I
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