First Jain Tirthankara
Bhagavan Rishabha the first Thirthankara's life is repeated verbatim also in the non -Jaina puranas, for example Bhagavatha purna fifth skanda, in Vishnupurna and Vayupurana. All these Hindu puranas maintain that Lord Rishabha preached the doctrine of Ahimsa after performing yoga for several years. The oldest Hindu Rig- veda praise Rishabhadev as
Name ............................ Rishabha nath (Adinath )
Father's Name ........ Nabhiraja
Mother's Name .......... .Marudevi
Birth Place ... ............... Ayodhya
Birth Thithi ... ...............Chaitra krishna. 8
Diksha Thithi ... ...........Chaitra krishna. 8
Kevalgyan Thithi.. ......falgun krishna. 8
Naksharta .. .................Uttrashadha
Diksha Sathi ... ......... ..4000
Shadhak Jeevan ... . ..1,00,000 purva
Age Lived ... ................ 84,00,000 purva
Lakshan Sign ... ....... .Vrushabha (Bull)
Neervan Place ... ...... .Asthapad Mount
Neervan Sathi ... ........ 10000
Neervan Thithi ... ....... .Magh Krishna 14
Chief Disciple...............Pundarik
Number of Disciples.................84
Number of Ascetics..................84 Thousand
Head of Female Ascetics.........Brahmi
Number of Female Ascetics....3 Lac
Male Laity ....................................3.5 Lac
Female Laity ...............................5.54 Lac
Colour ..................... ............ Golden-Yellow
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.
Asthapad Mount : Shri Asthapad Maha Tirth is situated up in tranquil heights of snow-covered Himalayas. Thousands of years ago Bhagavan Rishabhdev first of 24 tirthankara, attained salvation at this place. Scholars and visitors travel to the mountain where this Tirth is believed to be buried under the snow but Ashtapad Tirth for Shri Adinathji Nirvana-Bhoomi has not been located as yet precisely.
References of Ashtapad Tirth was found in some old Jain dhrama texts as:
Aacharang Niryoukti was first to mention about the Ashtapad Tirth. Aavshyak Niryoukti also has a description about Ashtapad Tirth. Ekadash Angadl Aagam, one of the oldest texts on Jainism also mentions Ashtapad as Maha Tirth. Uttaradhyan Sutra Niryoukti says that anyone (Charam Shariri) who can scale Ashtapad Tirth will attain Salvation (Moksh) (Para 290 Chapter 10). Vividh Tirth Kalp has a chapter dedicated to Ashtapsd Giri Kalp.
Uttar Puran has a description of Jain Tirthanker Rishbdev and that his son Bharat constructed a golden and Future. “Ashtapad Kalpa (old)”, written by Shri Purvacharya describes in detail the importance of this place and all the events that took place there.
Acharya Hemchandracharya in “Trishashthi Shalaka Purush Charitra” describes Ashtapad in detail. Chapter 10 Para 9 . says one staying overnight there and offering prayers to all Jin idols, attains salvation. Potala Palace (former residence of Dalai Lama) has some old books-written on Tal Patra which describe Nirvana of Rishabdev at Ashtapad-Kailash.
Many individuals and organizations are involved in research to unravel the mysteries of this legendary place. A picture engraved or carved with religious artwork of Shri Ashtapad Tirth is found in a Jain temple at Jaipur. The Jain center of America in New York who is constructing a new building for its temple and other religious activities. They collected a number of articles from old Jain Scriptures to develop an architectural design of the model of Shri Ashtapad.
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