Bhagwan Rishabhdev is the first Tirthankara of Jainism. Tirthankara means one who creates a pilgrimage. Those who create the pilgrimage from the world ocean (cycle of birth and death) to salvation, are called Tirthankara. Bhagwan Rishabhdev Ji is also called Adinath.
First Tirthankara of Jainism – Bhagwan Rishabhdev
Bhagwan Rishabhdev is the first Tirthankara of the present Avasarpini period.
Bhagwan Rishabhdev was born in Ayodhya on Ashtami-Navami of Chaitra Krishna to the seventh Kulkar Nabhiraj and his wife Marudevi in the tradition of Kulkars. He had a hundred sons including Bharat and Bahubali and two daughters Brahmi and Sundari. Rishabhdev was in the fifth generation from Swayambhuva Manu in this order – Swayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata, Agnidhra, Nabhi and then Rishabh.
Lord Rishabhdev took initiation on the Ashtami of Krishna Paksha of Chaitra month and got Kaivalya on Ashtami of Falgun Krishna Paksha. He attained Nirvana on Magha Krishna 14 in Ashtapada of the Kailash mountain region. His symbols are Bull, Chaityavriksha – Nygrodha, Yaksha – Govdanal, and Yakshini – Chakreshwari.
Lord Rishabhdev History
According to the Jain Puranas, Bhagwan Rishabhdev was the son of the last Kulkar king Nabhiraj. Bhagwan Rishabhdev was married to Nanda and Sunanda. Bhagwan Rishabhdev had 100 sons and two daughters. Among them, Chakravarti Bharat was the eldest and the first Chakravarti emperor, after whom the country was named Bharatvarsha. The second son Bahubali was also a great king.
Apart from these, Bhagwan Rishabhdev also had 98 sons namely Vrishabhsen, Anantvijay, Anantavirya, Achyut, Veer, Varveer etc. and two daughters named Bramhi and Sundari, to whom Rishabhdev first gave the knowledge of scriptology (alphabetism) and numerology respectively at the beginning of the era. Bahubali and Sundari’s mother’s name was Sunanda. Yashavati was the mother of Chakravarti Bharata, Brahmi and 98 other sons.
Lord Rishabhdev was born in the city of Ayodhya on the Chaitra Krishna Navami date. Bhagwan Rishabhdev’s parents were Marudevi (mother) and Nabhiraya (father). Bhagwan Rishabhdev had 100 sons and 2 daughters. His son Anantavirya was the first to attain salvation. Vrishabhsen, the son of Bhagwan Rishabhdev, was his first Gandhar. Bhagwan Rishabhdev had done penance for one thousand years. Bhagwan Rishabhdev got his first meal after fasting for one year and 39 days. In Hastinapuri, King Shreyans (the grandson of lord Rishabhdev) gave him the diet of Ikshuras for the first time.
Preaching
There were eighty-four Gandhars in Bhagwan Rishabhdev’s Samavasaran. His son named ‘Vrishabhsen’ had obtained the post of chief Gandhar after taking the first initiation in Samvasaran. Chakravarti king Bharat, the elder son of Bhagwan Rishabhdev, was the main audience in his Samvasaran. Aryika Brahmi Mataji, the chief consort of Bhagwan Rishabhdev’s consort, was the daughter of Bhagwan Rishabhdev himself.
On the date of Falgun Krishna Ekadashi, Bhagwan Rishabhdev attained Kevalgyan after doing penance for one thousand years in the garden of “Purimtalpur” city. Bhagwan Rishabhdev’s body was a golden colour. The length of his body is 500 Dhanush i.e. two thousand cubits. On Magha Krishna Chaturdashi, Bhagwan Rishabhdev attained nirvanapad from Mount Kailash. Anantavirya, the son of Bhagwan Rishabhdev, became the first Mokshagami of this era. All the sons of Bhagwan Rishabhdev attained salvation from the same Bhava by taking Diksha.
Bhagwan Rishabhdev, Ajitnath, Abhinandannath, Sumatinath and Anantnath these five Tirthankaras have taken birth in Ayodhya.
Kaivalya Gyan (Knowledge)
According to Jain texts, Bhagwan Rishabhdev only attained enlightenment after doing penance for about 1000 years. The following fasts were observed in the presence of Bhagwan Rishabhdev:
- 84 Ganadhar
- 22 thousand Kevali
- 12,700 Muni Mana: Adorned with the knowledge of Paryayajna
- 9,000 from Muni Awadhi Gyan
- 4,750 Shrut Kevali
- 20,600 Riddhi Dhari Muni
- 3,50,000 Aryka Mata Ji
- 3,00,000 devotees
Rishabhdev in Hinduism
In Vedic philosophy, the description of Bhagwan Rishabhdev comes in most of the texts like Rigveda, Atharvaveda, eighteen Puranas and Manusmriti. In Vedic philosophy, Bhagwan Rishabhdev is established as one of the 24 incarnations of Vishnu. Whereas in Shiva Purana, he has been given a place as an incarnation of Bhagwan Shiva. Rishabhdev has been called Vrishabhdev in Hindu scriptures.
There is a detailed description of him in Bhagwat as Arhan Raja. According to the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagwat, Priyavrat’s son was Agnidhra, whose son was King Nabhi (referred to as Nabhiraya in Jainism). King Nabhi’s son was Bhagwan Rishabhdev, who became a great emperor. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Bhagwan Rishabhdev was married to Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. This gave birth to one hundred sons. Among them, Bharat Chakravarti was the greatest and the most virtuous; it was Bharat who became the first Chakravarti emperor of India; after whose name India was named Bharat. Kushavart, Ilavart, Brahmavart, Malay, Ketu, Bhadrasen, Indrasprik, Vidarbha and Keekat, these nine princes were bigger and superior to the remaining ninety brothers. Younger than him were Kavi, Hari, Antriksh, Prabuddha, Pippalayan, Avirhotra, Drumil, Chamas and Karbhajan.
There is an 84 feet giant statue of Bhagwan Rishabhdev at a place called Bawangaja in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh state in India and also a 108 feet giant statue of Bhagwan Rishabhdev at Mangitungi (Maharashtra). The famous city of Udaipur district is also famous by the name of Bhagwan Rishabhdev, where a huge temple pilgrimage area of Bhagwan Rishabhdev exists, in which a very charming, beautiful, charming and miraculous statue of Bhagwan Rishabhdev is situated.
