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Kamath and Marubhuti
The soul that was to be Bhagavan Parshvanath was inspired to take the direction of purity in its birth as Marubhuti. He was
born to the wife of Purohit Vishvabhuti living in Potanpur City. His elder brother was Kamath. As Kamath was cruel, conceited,
and a debauch, in spite of being the elder son it was Marubhuti who succeeded his father on the post of Rajpurohit (the
director of ritual ceremonies of the king and state). Attracted toward the beautiful wife of Marubhuti, Vasundhara, Kamath
seduced her. When Kamath’s wife came to know about the affair, she tried to dissuade him in vain and told Marubhuti about
it. Marubhuti made a secret inquiry and conveyed every thing in detail to the king. The king exiled Kamath. He became a
mendicant and started doing rigorous penance.
After sometime Marubhuti felt that it was because of his report that Kamath was insulted and thrown out of the state; as such
he should go and beg forgiveness from his elder brother. Marubhuti went into the jungle near Kamath and bowed before him
seeking his pardon. Instead
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of getting pacified,
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Kamath was over powered
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by the desire of vengeance.
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He picked up a large
stone and hit Marubhuti on the head. Marubhuti died on the spot. (P-1/1)
The King Elephant
The soul of Marubhuti was reborn as an elephant in the forests of Vindhyachal. It became the leader of the herd. One day
when an ascetic was standing in meditation in the Vindhyachal area, the king elephant came near him. The memory of its
past life precipitated and it became a follower of the ascetic and turned mellow and detached. One day the elephant rushed
into and stationed itself in the middle of a pond in order to save him from a forest fire. The being that was Kamath had taken
birth as a serpent of the Kurkut species. When it saw the elephant, the serpent recognized it as its enemy from the earlier
birth. The serpent landed on the head of the elephant and stung it. The elephant equanimously tolerated the pain and died
peacefully. (P-1/2)
Suvarnbahu Chakravarti
In his third birth the being that was Marubhuti reincarnated as a god in the Sahasrar dimension. From there it descended and
was born as prince Kiranveg in Mahavideh area. He furthered his progress towards purity by becoming an ascetic and was
killed once again by the Kamath, now born as a snake. His next birth was as a god in the Achyut Kalpa dimension. From
there he came to Mahavideh area as king Vajranabh. Kamath was born as a Bhil aborigin who shot Vajranabh, who had
become an ascetic now, with an arrow. Reincarnating in the Madhyam Graiveyak dimension of gods, the being that was to be
Parshvanath enjoyed the fruits of his pious Karma.
In his eighth birth this being was born in the royal family of Puranpur in the Mahavideh area. After ascending the throne
Suvarnbahu conquered six continents and became a Chakravarti. In later part of his life he became an ascetic and did purest
of meditations to earn Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma. During this birth also, its old enemy Kamath who was born as a
fierce lion killed this being. From here this being went to the Pranat dimension of gods.
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Descending from the Pranat dimension of gods, the being that was Marubhuti came into the womb of Vama Devi, wife of king
Ashvasen of Varanasi. On the tenth day of the dark half of the month of Paush Vama Devi gave birth to a son. At the time of
his naming ceremony king Ashvasen announced that during her pregnancy Vama Devi one night saw a snake slithering on
the bed near his flank. She woke him up and saved him from the impending danger. As such, he was naming the new born
as Parshva (flank).
Prince Parshva was very handsome and intelligent. His fame reached Kushasthalpur and princess Prabhavati, daughter of
king Prasenjit, determined to become his wife. Before a proposal for marriage could be sent the king of Kalinga lay a seize of
Kushasthalpur and sought the hand of Prabhavati in marriage. King Prasenjit, aware of the might of Yavanraj sent a massager
to Varanasi for help. King Ashvasen got irritated at the misconduct of Yavanraj and ordered his army to march. Prince
Parshva requested his father to let him command the army in this battle. Ashvasen was well aware of the ability and prowess
of prince Parshwa; he accepted Parshva’s proposal without any hesitation. (P-2/1)
Before the prince started for the battlefield the king of gods sent a divine and airworthy chariot for Parshva. After reaching the
battle field and prior to giving the orders to attack, Parshva sent to message to Yavanraj that now Prasenjit was under the
protection of King Ashvasen, and as such he should break his seize of Kushasthalpur or face the great army of Varanasi and
divine powers of Parshva. Although the youthful Yavanraj and some of his younger ministers were provoked, a senior
minister informed him that the king of gods himself sided Parshva. He not only had divine powers but also the flying chariot
of Indra. To fight Parshva was to embrace certain defeat. Yavanraj accepted the advice of the senior minister and surrendered
before prince Parshva without a fight. He offered rich gifts to Parshva and became a friend of Prasenjit. (P-2/2)
Victorious Parshva Kumar returned to Varanasi. King Prasenjit also came to Varanasi with his daughter Prabhavati and
requested king Ashvasen to marry Parshva Kumar with Prabhavati. Parshva was adverse tot he bonds of marriage. However,
his parents persuaded him and he could not hurt their feelings. He was married to Prabhavati but led a simple and
detached life.
Amar Muni - Tirthankar Charitra - Surana # 26
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