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According to jaina tradition, he was a
hero of the Ikshvaku family Ayodhya. His father was King Nabhiraja and his
mother Queen Marudevi. He was married to Sumangla and Sunanda. Sumangla gave birth to
Bharat, who later became a Chakravarti king . Sunanda gave birth to a
child who came to be known as Bahubali.
Adinath had one hundred sons and two daughters, who were named Brahmi and
Sundari. It is believed that all civilization developed from the teachings
of Adinath. He taught people how they could obtain food by tilling the
soil, that they should take up to agriculture for the production of food.
He taught some other people to carry this agriculture produce to different
peoples and supply to those that were in need. He again set apart a
numbered of able-bodied men for the purpose of defense. Thus he was the first king to establish the institutions of
marriage, agriculture, the arts, and weaponry. He ruled for thousands of
years and after he divided his kingdom among his sons and departed to take
up an ascetic way of life to perform Tapas. After the practice of Tapas
for several years, he attained Kevalagyana or Omniscience.
When Adinath renounced his kingdom,
thousands of people followed him into the ascetic life. Whenever they went
for alms, people offered them gold, jewels, ornaments, etc. But no one
offered them food. Thus, many of his followers could not tolerate the
starvation. They began asking for food, and then they left to form their
own groups. This was the beginning of many sects. (According to the Jain
faith, Tirthankaras remained silent until they achieved perfection.)
Adinath
also went without food for an entire year. Then he went to his grandson
Shreyans kingdom (Hastinapur). His grandson offered him sugarcane juice,
which he accepted. Hastinapur is still considered a holy place, and even
today Jains make pilgrimages to this site to break ritual fasts (with
sugarcane juice). After becoming enlightened (Perfect), He broke his
silence and preached for many years, telling how to escape the cycle of
birth and death and achieve eternal bliss. Bhagwan Adinath achieved
Nirvana on the mountain of Kailash in the Himalayas when he was in
complete Samadhi. The symbol of Adinath is a Bull (Rishabh) so he is known as Rishabha Dev.
The discoveries resulting from the excavations of
Harappa and Mohenjodara, we have nude images of a yogi considered to be
idols used for worship by the people of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Also the symbol of bull is found in abundance in coins and seals belonging
to that period. Hence it will be consistent to maintain that the religious
life of people of Indus Valley Civilization must have been associated with
the Rishabha cult which must have been prevalent throughout the land from
Himalayas down to Cape Comorian and further South in Lanka.
The contribution of Tirthankara Rishabhdev:
He was the first to train Indians in systematic agricultural work. He called upon people to domesticate animals on larger scale along with agriculture.
Bringing the society in the range of simplicity was Rishabhdev's second major
contribution. In spite of connecting Ahimsa with self-retrain and self-control, he called upon people to make love and friendliness the basis of their social conducts, which confirmed his commitment towards simplicity and adaptable rules for common men. In this regards it has been mentioned in the Trilokakshara:
"Dhammo Vadiyamoolo Vanimmiyio Adybihamen"
Meaning , "Rishabh, the first Tirthankara, laid the foundation of the simple dharma. That dharma was based upon love and friendliness."
The third contribution of Rishabhdev was the teachings of developing the art of cottage industries according to demand of time and space.
It has been mentioned in the Vrihat
Swayambhu Istrota:
"Prajapatriyah Prathamam Jajivishiyuh Shashasa Krishyadasiyu Karamasu Prajah"
His fourth contribution had been in his exemplary teachings of realistic honesty particularly for those who were involved in business for their livelihood.
Nirvana:
For a long time Bhagavan Rishabhdev continued to propagate his religion having
the five great vows as its central theme. When he realized that all his remaining Karmas are approaching their end he proceeded to the Ashtapad
mountain. On the thirteenth day of the dark half of the month of Magh,
Rishabhdev, along with ten thousand other ascetics, was
observing a six day fast without water. He was sitting in the meditation in the
Paryanka pose. When the moon entered the Abhijit lunar mansion he got nirvana
and got liberated from all sorrows. The king of gods, Saudharmendra, Emperor
Bharat, numerous gods and men gathered and celebrated the auspicious event of Bhagavan Rishabhdev’s Nirvana. |
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