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

Once a scholarly ascetic visited Hastinapur. King Shankh went for his Darshan, and asked him, “Why am I so deeply in love
with Yashomati that all my desires to renunciate come to a naught”. The ascetic said, “Your marital ties are many a life-time
deep. For last six lives you are being married to each other, this is the seventh birth. That is the reason for such intense and
deep feeling of love for each other”.
The king asked, “When these ties will be broken?”
The scholarly ascetic replied, “In your ninth incarnation you will be born as Neminath and she as Rajimati. In that birth you will
be able to break this tie of love and become the twenty-second Tirthankar. Rajimati will also follow you on the path of
renunciation and get liberated”.
The birth as Arishtanemi
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Knowing all this Shankh had a deep feeling of detachment. He gave his kingdom to his son and became an ascetic. As a
result of high spiritual practices and deep devotion for Jina he earned the Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma and reincarnated
in the Aprajit dimension of gods. Bhagavan Rishabhdev and twenty-one other Tirthankars were born in the Ikshvaku clan.
The twentieth Tirthankar Munisuvrat was born in the Harivamsh clan. The great king Vasu was also from Harivamsh clan.
After a long time this clan saw another illustrious king Sauri who was the founder of the famous Sauripur town. Sauri had two
sons Andhak Vrishni and Bhog Vrishni. Andhak Vrishni had ten sons; the eldest was Samudravijay and the youngest Vasudev.
The being that was Shankh descended from the Aprajit dimension of gods into the womb of queen Shiva Devi, wife of king
Samudravijay of Sauripur. The fourteen great dreams indicated that this being was to become a Tirthankar. On the fifth day
of the bright half of the month of Shravan queen Shiva Devi gave birth to a son. As per the convention 56 goddesses of
directions arrived and performed the birth celebrations after the post-birth cleaning. (AN-1)
During the naming ceremony the king conveyed that as the queen had seen a disc with Arishta gems, the newborn would be
called Arishtanemi.
Vasudev, the younger brother of king Samudravijay was a charming and handsome person. His senior queen Rohini had a
son named Balram (Padma) and junior queen Devaki had a son named Shrikrishna. Balram and Shrikrishna were the ninth
Baldev and Vasudev.
During these times the whole area of central India had become a disturbed area due to prevailing conspiracies among various
kingdoms. Cruel Kamsa and oppressive Jarasandh (the Prativasudev) were the worst of these feuding principalities. In order
to be away from these everyday problems and as per the advice of an astrologer, the Yadav clan, including Samudravijay,
Vasudev, Ugrasen, and Shrikrishna etc. migrated from Mathura and Sauripur to the West Coast. Shrikrishna constructed the
large and beautiful town of Dwarka on the seacoast and near the Raivatak Mountain (Girnar). Its grand architecture and
strong fortification made it heavenly beautiful and unconquerable.
The Power and Prowess of Arishtanemi
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One day while wandering around, youthful Arishtanemi reached the hall of weapons of Vasudev Shrikrishna. Seeing the
divine weapons he first lifted the Sudarshan Chakra (the disc weapon) curiously and whirled it playfully. He then lifted the
giant bow, Sarang and bent it as if it was a thin cane. After this he lifted the Panchajanya conch, put it to his lips and blew it
hard. The piercing loud sound emanating from the great conch shocked the town. Shrikrishna rushed to the armoury. Seeing
Arishtanemi playfully handling the giant and heavy weapons belonging to Vasudev, Shrikrishna was astonished. He asked,
“Nemi! Did you blow the Panchajanya”? Nemi innocently replied, “Yes brother! It is so cute I could not contain myself”.
Shrikrishna knew that his weapons were beyond the capacity and strength of any warrior in the world. He was astonished and
pleased at the same time that his young cousin was so strong and powerful. He wanted to test Nemi’s strength further; he
invited Nemi to the gymnasium for a friendly trial of strength. First Shrikrishna raised his arm and held it straight asking Nemi
to bring it down. Nemi forced Shrikrishna’s arm down without any apparent effort. After this Nemi raised his arm and
Shrikrishna, in spite of all his strength could not force it down. He even put all his weight on the outstretched arm but as if it
was a beam of steel, the arm of Nemi did not move even a fraction of an inch. (AN-2/a)
Shrikrishna was very pleased knowing about this unprecedented strength of his cousin. He thought that this great individual,
much more powerful than him, is capable of becoming a Chakravarti. But how could he become a Chakravarti if he does not
change his attitude of detachment for all worldly activities. Shrikrishna formulated a plan. He asked Nemi to marry and start
his family life. Nemi still did not show any interest. Shrikrishna now consulted his queens and organized a spring festival. The
ladies dragged Nemi Kumar to the pool for water games and there they used all their guile to pursue him to agree for
marriage. Shrikrishna also requested once more. Nemi presented a smiling but thoughtful celebration that would initiate him
on the path of liberation. As such he did not oppose the proposal. His silence was taken as a sign of affirmation and it was
joyously announced that Nemi Kumar had finally agreed for marriage. (AN-2/b)
Amar Muni - Tirthankar Charitra - Surana # 24
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