Yogashastra of Hemchandracharya

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Surendra Bothra
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 14

प्रथम प्रकाश First Chapter
नमो दुर्वाररागादि-वैरिवार-निवारिणे । अर्हते योगनाथाय, महावीराय तायिने ॥ १ ॥
Meaning : I bow to Mahavira, the Arhat, the destroyer of the army of indifatiguable enemies like attachment and others, the lord of Yogis and the protector of all beings.
Explanation : It is no exaggeration to address as Mahavira, a person who has obtained absolute victory over the internal enemies like attachment, aversion, lust, anger, illusion, greed, etc. This great man was born to queen Trishala and king Siddhartha, on the thirteenth of the bright half of Chaitra in the year 599 B. C. at Kshatriyakunda, a town in Magadha. He was named Vardhamana by his parents. But the gods, knowing his qualities of great valour, gave him the apt name of Mahavira.
Having developed downright dejection for the material pleasures of the world, he accepted monkhood, practised hard penances, and remained
First Chapter