„梂 縈Ｏ３ 蔣潮 J - Jainism, Jain Religion - colleges

After completing his age in the dimension of gods, he descended into the womb of Queen Vijaya Devi, wife of king Jitshatru
of Vinita town. Queen Vijaya Devi saw fourteen auspicious dreams. Vaijayanti, the wife of king Jitshatru’s younger brother,
Sumitra, also saw the same fourteen dreams. This was a queer coincidence. When the augers were consulted they informed
that Vijaya Devil will give birth to a Tirthankar and Vaijayanti to a Chakravarti (monarch of sic continents).
During the period of the queen’s pregnancy, the influence of king Jitshatru enhanced to an extent that even the enemy
kingdoms sought and negotiated friendly treaties with him. It became a common practice to say, “King Jitshatru is invincible
(Ajit)”. (G-2/a)
The queen gave birth to a son on the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Magh. Inspired by the popular lore, the king
named the new born as Ajit. The same night Vaijayanti also gave birth to a son who was named Sagar. When both the
princes came of age they were married. Time passed with profusion of happiness.
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princes were called and offered the kingdom. Ajit Kumar was naturally a detached person since childhood, and so he too
When king Jitshatru became old and wanted to devote the last part his life to spiritual pursuit, he called his younger brother
and asked him to take over the throne. Sumitra had no desire for the kingdom; he too wanted to become an ascetic. Both the
declined. At last prince Sagar ascended the throne.
Ajit Kumar became an ascetic in his youth and went into remote and dense forests for his meditation and penance. His
personality and the intensity of his lofty practices cast a pacifying influence all around. Natural enemies in the animal kingdom,
like lion and cow, wolf and deer, and mongoose used to come and sit around him peacefully. (G-2/b)
After a twelve-year period of deep meditation and other spiritual practices he attained omniscience on the eleventh day of the
bright half of the month of Paush. The gods created the divine pavilion and Bhagavan Ajitnath gave his eloquent and
magnetic discourses. Thousands of people accepted the path of renunciation.
King Sagar, during this period, conquered the six continents and became a Chakravarti. King Meghvahan and Vidyadhar
Bhim, the ruler of the island of Rakshasas (demons), were the illustrious contemporaries of Emperor Sagar. Once they went
to a discourse of Bhagavan Ajitnath. There, Vidyadhar Bhim was drawn towards spiritual life. He became so detached that
he gave his kingdom including the famous cities of Lanka and Patal Lanka to king Meghvahan. He also gave all his knowledge
and miraculous powers to Meghvahan. Besides this he gave a divine necklace of nine large and shining beads.
Meghvahan was the first king of the Rakshah clan in which the famous king Ravana was born.
Death of Sagar’s Sixty Thousand sons
Emperor Sagar had thousands of queens and sixty thousand sons. Eldest among them was Janhu Kumar. Once all the
princes went for an outing.
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When they arrived at the base of Ashtapad hills, they dug up large ditches and canals. In their
youthful abandon they flooded these canals with the water of river Ganges. This flash flood inundated the houses and villages
of the lower gods known as Nag Kumars. The king of these gods, Jwalanprabh came and tried to stop them in vain. The
unruly princes were intoxicated with their regal power. At last Jwalanprabh lost his temper and turned all the sixty thousand
princes to ashes.
This sudden death of all his sons with a traumatic experience for Emperor Sagar. He handed over the empire to his eldest
grandson, Bhagirath, and took Diksha from Bhagavan Ajitnath.
When his last moments were approaching, Bhagavan Ajitnath went to Sammetshikhar. With one thousand other ascetics, he
commenced his final meditation. He attained Nirvana on the fifth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra.
3. BHAGAVAN SAMBHAVNATH
A long time after the Nirvana of Bhagavan Ajitnath, king Vipulvahan ruled the city of Kshempuri in the Airavat area of Mahavideh.
He was a soft hearted and compassionate ruler who loved and cared for his subjects. Once, when there was a devastating
draught and the population was deprived even of a few drops of water, the king opened his grain yards for the public, his
kitchen for the monks and ascetics and his treasury for the import of food grains. He instructed the caretaker of his personal
kitchen that the doors of his kitchen should be open to all and sundry. All guests should be given priority over his own self.
Whatever little is left should be served to him. If nothing were left he would be contended with the pleasure of serving his
guests. During the drought there were many occasions when the king remained unfed and thirsty.
As a result of this sublime feeling of compassion, Vipulvahan acquired a unique purity of soul and earned the Tirthankar-namand-gotra-karma.
Although, after the drought normalcy returned, the torture of the living world by the nature left a mark of
Vipulvahan’s psyche. One day while he was standing on the rooftop he witnessed dense rain clouds being scattered by wind.
A feeling of intense detachment grew in him. He handed over his kingdom to his son and took Diksha from Svayamprabh
Suri. After completing his age he reincarnated in the Anat dimension of gods.
Amar Muni - Tirthankar Charitra - Surana # 13
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