The being that
was to be Bhagavan Arishtanemi, in his earlier incarnation,
was Shankh, the eldest son of king Shrishen of Hastinapur.
One day some citizens and wayfarers came to the
king and informed him that the highways approaching
Hastinapur and the surrounding area were being terrorized
by bandits and smugglers. No traveler or villager
was safe from the attack of the bandits. Robbery
and murder became a daily routine for them. The
citizens requested he king to protect the masses.
the king deputized prince Shankh to go and punish
the bandits.
Prince Shankh was an accomplished diplomat and strategist.
He planned and conducted his campaign in such a
way that he apprehended the leader of bandits without
any bloodshed. While he was on his way back he heard
the cry of help of a young princess abducted by
a Vidyadhar (a lower god); prince Shankh challenged
the Vidyadhar, defeated him and saved princess Yahomati.
when these young people saw each other they fell
in love and got married. In due course prince Shankh
ascended the throne.
Once a scholarly ascetic visited Hastinapur. King
Shankh went for his Darshan, an asked him, "Why
am I so deeply in love with Yashomati that all my
desires to renounce 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 twenty second Tirthankar. Rajimati
will also follow you on the path of renunciation
and get liberated."
The Birth as Arishtanemi
Knowing all this Shankh had a deep feeling of detachment.
He gave his kingdom to his on and became an ascetic.
As a result of high spiritual practices and deep
devotion for Jnan 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 Ikshavku 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
Virshni. Andhak Virishni had ten sons, the eldest
was Samudravijay and the youngest Vasudev.
The being that was Shankh descended from the Aparajit
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 Shravaan 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.
During
the naming ceremony the king conveyed that as
the queen had seen a disc with Arishta gems, the
new born will 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 Shrikrishana.
Balram and Shrikrishna were the ninth Baldev and
Vasudev.
During those 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 advise of an astrologer, the Yadav
clan, including Samudravijay, Vasudev, Ugrasen,
Shrikrishan etc. migrated from Mathura sauriur
to the west coast. Shrikrishan constructed the
large and beautiful town of Dwarka on the sea
coast and near the Raivatak mountain (Girnar).
Its grand architecture and strong fortification
made it heavenly beautiful and unconquerable.
The Power and Prowess of Arishtanemi
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. Shrikrishan rushed to the armory. Seeing
Arishtanemi playfully handling the he giant and
heavy weapons belonging to Vasudev, Shrikrishan
was astonished. He asked "Nemi! did you blow the
Panchajanya?" Nemi innocently replied, "Yes brother!
It is so cute I could not contain myself."
Shrikrishan knew that is 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 Shrikrishan 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 Shrikrishana, 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 steal, the arm of Nemi did not move even a fraction
of an inch.
Shrikrishan 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.
Shrikrishan formulated a plan. He asked Nemi to
marry and start his family life. Nemi still did
not show any interest. Shrikrishan 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 pursued
him to agree for marriage. Shrikrishna also requested
once more. Nemi presented a smiling but thoughtful
look. With his divine knowledge he became aware
it was the marriage 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.
Shrikrishana started the
search for a suitable match. One of his queens
Satyabhama, informed hat her beautiful and delicate
younger sister, Rajul, would be an extremely suitable
match for Nemi Kumar. Shrikrishana finalized all
arrangements. On the arranged date the marriage
procession started with Nemi Kumar riding the
decorated king elephant. All the kings and princes
of the Yadav clan joined the procession with their
royal regalia and retinue. When the procession
was approaching the destination, Nemi Kumar saw
that on the side of the road there were large
fenced areas and cages full of wailing animals
and birds. Filled with sympathy and compassion,
he asked the elephant driver why those animals
and birds were being kept in bondage. The driver
informed him that the creatures were collected
to be butchered for meat for the large number
of gusts attending his marriage.
Nemi Kumar was filled with despair and a feeling
of detachment. He said to the elephant driver,
"If I agree to be the cause of the butchering
of so many living beings my life and the one to
come will be filled with pain and misery. So,
I will not marry. Immediately arrange for the
release of all these creatures; turn back and
head for Dwarka." The driver looked at him in
astonishment. Nemi Kumar said, "This is an order."
The news spread panic in the marriage procession.
All the seniors of the Yadav clan tried to change
the mind of Nemi Kumar, but in vain. Even Shrikrishna
could not dissuade him from his determination.
Nemi Kumar said to the elders, "As these animals
were prisoners in the cages, we all are prisoners
in cages of karma which are much stronger than
these fences. See the feeling of joy evident in
the animals released from the cages. Know that
happiness is in freedom, not in bondage. I want
to tread the path of breaking this bondage of
Karma and embrace eternal bliss. Please do not
stop me."
When Rajimati, dressed as bride, heard of this
act of Nemi Kumar she could not tolerate the sting
of sorrow. she fainted with shock. When she recovered
she started crying and again lost consciousness.
After a year long charity, Nemi Kumar sat in a
palanquin named Uttarkura, and, passing through
the town of Dwarka, arrived in the Raivatak garden.
He got down under an Ashoka tree and pulled out
five fistful of hair and after taking off all ornaments
and the royal dress. He became an ascetic along
with one thousand person on the sixth day of he
bright half of the month of Shravan. Shrikrishan
was deeply touched by this incident; he blessed
his younger cousin and wished him success in his
mission.
Arhat Neminath spent fifty four days in deep spiritual
practices and then went to Vijaynat hill (Girnar).
On the fifteenth day of the dark half of the month
of Ashvin, in he afternoon, he was observing a two
days fast and was meditating under a bamboo tree
when he became an omniscient. Establishing he four
pronged religious organization (Tirth) he became
the twenty second Tirthankar.
When Rajimati recovered from the melancholy she
decided to follow the path taken by Neminath. Prince
Rathnemi, the younger brother of Neminath, tried
his best to seduce Rajimati. But she could not be
distracted from her goal. When Rajimati came to
know that Neminath had become an omniscient, she
went to the Samavasaran of neminath along with many
of her friends and took Diksha. She lost herself
in penances and other spiritual practices and in
the end got liberated.
Stories of a number of
famous ascetic contemporaries of Bhagavan Arishtanemi
are glittering gems in he heap of Jain scriptures.
some more prominent names are child ascetic Gajasukumar,
great ascetic Dhandhan Rishi, Thavaccha-putra Sharman
etc.
Bhagavan Arishtanemi got liberated, at the age of
one thousand years, on the eighth day of the bright
half of he month o Ashadh.
A number of historians accept that Arishtanemi,
he cousin of Shrikrishana, was a historical figure
who greatly contributed towards vegetarianism, compassion
and Ahimsa. This is the point where Jain prehistory
fuses with history
