Shree Shreyans Nath 11th Jain Thithankar

Shree Shreyans Nath
11th Jain Tirthankar

Tirthankara Nam Karma offers the soul to come to the earth as a Tirthankara. There 24 Tirthankara for every half cycle of Time according to Jain scriptures. They are blessed souls who help people attain Mukti. They are born as an individual human being. They grow as a prince and become a king. Due to their spiritual powers, they realize the purpose of life. Tirthankaras are highly noble souls who get liberated from the mundane life. They also preach people to win all the miseries in life. They help all their followers to attain the state of eternal bliss.

The Jain cosmic calendar has two kaals namely the Ascending period called Utsarpini and Descending time cycle called Avsarpini. The Jains believe that the period has twelve wheels sharing six each by Utsarpini and Avsarpini Kaal. Each half cycle of time will have six Ara and may not have the same duration. But during Utsarpini people enjoy all positive developments. On the other hand during the descending time cycle, everything gets reversed from the best to the worst stage.

Tirthankaras are incarnated to educate people even during the worst time to attain Nirvana. The present age is the fifth Ara of Avsarpini. Sixth Ara will follow next and will continue for 21000 years. Then First Ara of Utsarpini will begin to last for 21000 years.

Birth and Childhood of Shreyansnath

King Nalingulm belonged to the town of Kshema located in Pushkarvar Island. He took care of his subjects very well. He was pious and peace loving. His accumulated Tirthankara Nam Karma made him come to this earth as the Eleventh Tirthankara of the Jain religion. Yes, King Nalingulm was born as Tirthankar Shreyansnath.

According to the Mahashakra dimension of the gods, his soul entered the womb of Queen Vishnudevi. Simhapur near Sarnath was ruled by King Vishnuraja. His wife Queen Vishnudevi dreamt fourteen things in her dream. The King enquired their Guru Kaudinya about the interpretation of the dream. The Guru explained that according to Digambar Jain sect the dream would have sixteen things. This vision confirms the birth of a Tirthankara. The King knew his wife has conceived. Thus the birth of pious souls got confirmed by their kula-guru. The King happily thanked the Queen for giving the pride to him as the father of a Tirthankara.

The Queen delivered a boy baby during the waning moon on the twelfth day of the Bhadrapad month. The entire Kingdom celebrated the happy moment. The King named the baby as Shreyans Kumar. He was always calm and humble. Everyone praised him for his composed nature. He had great faith in God. He was brave and straightforward. He grew as a prince. He got married.

His father King Vishnu decided to travel in search of salvation. Even though he knew that his Shreyans would become a Tirthankara, still he coronated him as the king. Then he left the kingdom to practice religious penance. He wanted his subjects to enjoy Shreyans ruling. Prince Shreyans accepted the Kingship and started taking care of his people. He did not rule the kingdom but guided individuals and showed them direction to live. All people lived in peace for many years. King Shreyans now saw his son Sudharma grown big.

Shreyansnath – Ascetic Life

King Shreyans started feeling about the liberation. He did not like the material comforts. He decides to give the kingdom to his son and leave the country to attain omniscience. Though people felt sorry for his leaving, they agreed to his decision. Many people followed his path and embraced asceticism.

He practiced religious penance. He also gave away all wealth to people. He even left his fistful of hair stating ‘Namo Siddhanam’ and wandered in the forest. He meditated profound and long. He became a Shraman and continued practicing penance. After two months he achieved Nirvana. He sat under the mango tree to attain omniscience. On the fifteenth day of Krishna Paksham (Period between the Full moon and New moon) of the Magh month, he attained Nirvana. Krishna Paksham gets also referred as the dark half of the month or the waning moon.

Nirvana

He preached and insisted people to follow the tenets of the Jain religion. He started spreading Jainism. He taught his followers about kindness and ahimsa. He told them the three code of conduct namely Right Act, Right Manner, and Right Knowledge. After several years of his continuous discourses and lectures, he achieved Nirvana during the Krishna Paksham. On the third day of the waning moon of the Shravan month, he attained Mukti at the top of the hill Sammed Shikhar.

It was believed that during the period of Shreyansnath Lord Mahaveera swayed as the first Vasudev Triprishtha. Soon after Triprishtha died, his brother Baldev Achal became the follower of Dharmaghosh. Dharmaghosh, in turn, followed Shreyansnath. Baldev Achal attained liberation during that birth.

Conclusion

The sign of Shreyansnath is rhinoceros. Bhagavan Shreyansnath came to the earth to uplift humanity. He with all his compassion and love purified the land. Such realized souls make the atmosphere calm and pure. Every Tirthankara come with the purpose teaching people detachment from materials. To cross the sea of birth and death cycle and attain Nirvana, everyone must fight their internal enemies. Yes, Tirthankara means ford maker. Tirtha means Ford. One who happens to create a path in the ocean of misery to offer salvation becomes a Jina. Jina means a conqueror of material existence. He attains liberation through self–discipline. Jinas also helped all humankinds to battle their struggle and educate them to achieve freedom from worldly life.

India has got the blessings from God to have such Tirthankaras exist in the country to purify the entire nation. Blessed souls including Bhagavan Sreyansnath and the twenty-three other Tirthankaras have helped people to cross the ocean of Samsara. Samsara in Sanskrit means mundane existence.

Follow the preaching of Tirthankaras to attain salvation from all the misery and trouble caused by living. With spreading Peace to the world, God incarnated such realized souls in India.

Family
Father:	Vishnu
Mother:	Vishnudri (Vishna)
Dynasty:	Ikshvaku
Places
Birth:	Simhapuri
Nirvana:	Sammed Shikhar
Attributes
Colour:	Golden
Symbol:	Rhinoceros
Height:	80 dhanusha (240 meters)
Age:	8,400,000 common years
Attendant Gods
Yaksha:	Manuj
Yaksini:	Vatsa