Shree Sheetalnath 10th Jain Tirthankar

Shree Sheetalnath
10th Jain Tirthankar

Sheetalnath is the tenth Tirthankara of Jain philosophy. The incarnation of a Tirthankara to the earth is very similar to the birth of any human being. They descend into the womb of a mother. They grow as a healthy person during their childhood. They get married and become the king. But eventually, due to their Tirthankara Nam Karma, they get detached from the worldly life and practice spiritual penance. Tirthankara’s thus attained Nirvana. They also help their disciples to cross the ocean of infinite samsara (birth and rebirth cycle).

Jainism believes that the time Cycle or Kalachakra is endless. It gets divided as Avsarpini kaal and Utsarpini kaal. During Utsarpini kaal everything progresses towards the best. The reverse happens during Avsarpini. The duration of each kaal makes Ten krodakrodi saagaropam. Crore power two makes krodakrodi. Ten krodakrodi multiplied by palyopam makes one saagaropam. Palyopam cannot be quantified. Each Kaal further gets divided into six Aras.

Know the duration of Utsarpini Kaal

First Ara – 21000 years
Second Ara – 21000 years
Third Ara – 42000 years less than 1 KS
Fourth Ara – Two KS 2
Fifth Ara – There KS
Sixth Ara – Four KS

KS Means – krodakrodi saagaropam. In Avsarpini kaal, the number of years gets reversed.

Jain cosmic calendar confirms that the fifth Ara of Avsarpini kaal is in its 19000 years. Once 21000 years get over the sixth Ara will start. After 21000 years of sixth Ara, first Ara of Utsarpini begins and will exist for 21000 Yrs. This cycle will continue countless times. During every half cycle, 24 Tirthankaras come into existence.

Birth And Childhood Of – Sheetalnath

Sheetalnath during his earlier incarnation lived as King Padmottar. He ruled the Sushima town located in the Pushkarvar Island. He followed a simple life. He always believed in spiritualism. His subjects felt happy under his rule. One day he decided to obtain Diksha from Tristadha Muni and left his kingdom to his son. Due to his past karmas and religious penance he was born as a Tirthankara in his next birth.

His soul entered the womb of his mother and Queen Nanda Devi. She lived with her husband who ruled Bhaddilpur town. King Dridhratha took care of all his people with compassion and love. The Queen got a dream on an early morning and told about that to the King. She said that he saw the fourteen things in her dream as described below.

1. A huge bull is entering the Queen’s mouth.
2. A Lion
3. A flower garland
4. An elephant with four tusks
5. Lakshmi seated on the Lotus.
6. The bright Sun
7. The moon is glowing in the sky on a Poornima (full moon) night.
8. An ocean of milk
9. An urn made of gold
10. A fluttering Flag
11. A celestial vehicle
12. A pond full of lotus flowers
13. A bundle of gem stones
14. A burning fire carrying no smoke

The King wanted to know the inner meaning of the Queen’s dream and consulted the priest. Then it got confirmed that the dreams will happen to the mother of the Tirthankara. The entire kingdom celebrated the moment and awaited the birth of the great soul.

A baby boy was born to the Queen on the twelfth day of the Magh month. Now the time has come to name the baby. The king named the baby as Sheetal. Sheetal means Calm and Cool. The subjects eagerly asked the king about the reason behind choosing that name. As the King Dridhratha happened to be a friendly person he explained as follows. When the baby entered the mother’s womb, all celebrated happily. One day suddenly the king developed a fever. No medicine could give him relief. The worried Queen cried sitting beside the King. The moment she touched the King’s forehead, the pain and fever vanished. The King said that he decided then to name the baby as Sheetal. People felt proud of the child.

The boy grew as a loving, caring, and an obedient child. He got married. The king decided to coronate the prince and wanted to attain salvation. Sheetalnath has been an obedient son and thus accepted the kingship. The King went to the forest and started practicing penance.

Sheetalnath – Ascetic Life

While Sheetalnath was ruling the kingdom very efficiently, suddenly he felt a vacuum in his mind. He started feeling about birth and death cycle. He looked for the self-realization within himself. His previous incarnations ran in his mind like a movie. He got to understand the purpose of his existence. He spoke to his mother and with her consent handed over the kingship to the next generation. He then embraced austerity. He gave way all his wealth to people. He got detached from material possession. He started practicing penance under the Peepal tree. Upon practicing for three months, he attained Omniscience under the Peepal tree on the fourteenth day of the Krishna Paksham (waning moon) of the Paush month.

Nirvana

Many people followed the preaching. He exhorted people to attain asceticism. He started spreading the principles Jainism. The values included compassion, ahimsa, Right Act, Right Manner, and Right Knowledge. He consistently spread the word of Jain philosophy to people. He taught the real way to attain Mukti. He helped them destroy their internal enemies like greed, lust, ego, anger, deceit, and pride. Many accepted his path of renunciation.

Upon completing his duties to the world, he achieved Nirvana on Krisha Paksham of the Vaisakh month at the top of the hill Sammed Shikharji.

Conclusion

Kalpavriksh represented Sheetalnath’s symbol. The tree is believed to fulfill one’s wish as per Hindu culture. Bhagavan Sheetalnath fulfilled the desire of humanity to attain Mukti from the mundane life. With his pure and compassionate preaching, he uplifted humankind.

He made his followers get rid of the carnal pleasures and rise above the endless cycles of samsara (the birth and death cycle).

Dignified souls like Sheetalnathji came to the world to make the earth a holy place. Also, to offer liberation to humankind from the struggles in this materialistic world.

Shree Sheetalnath Swami,The Tenth Teerthankara.

Family
Father:	Dridharatha
Mother:	Sunanda
Dynasty:	Ikshvaku
Places
Birth:	Bhadrikapuri
Nirvana:	Sammed Shikhar
Attributes
Colour:	Golden
Symbol:	Kalpavriksha
Height:	90 dhanusha (270 meters)
Age:	100,000 purva (7.06 Quintillion Years)
Attendant Gods
Yaksha:	Brahma
Yaksini:	Ashoka