Previous Births of Munisuvrata
The being that was to be Lord Munisuvrat purified its soul during his birth as Surshreshta, the king of Champa city in Mahavideh. area. He had a bend for spiritual practices and in the process of his vigorous devotion for the Arhant, he earned Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra. Completing his age he reincarnated in the Pranat dimension of gods.
Birth of Lord Munisuvrata
From the dimension of gods he descended into the womb of queen Padmavati, wife of king Sumitra raja of Rajgriha. On the third day of Shravna Krishna (according to Hindu Calendar) queen saw the auspicious fourteen (sixteen according to Digambara Jain Sect) dreams. It had been raining. Queen got up, took bath and did her religious activities and went to see the King to understand the meaning of these dreams. King told her excitedly that she was going to give birth to a very pious soul who would become a Tirthankara. On the 10th day of the Vaishakha Krishna month of the Hindu calendar, queen Padmavati gave birth to a son.
Naming Ceremony:-
During the pregnancy queen Padmavati took various vows and lead a life as disciplined as an ascetic. She became a true and strict follower of vows. Accordingly, after the birth the boy was named Munisuvrata (vow like ascetic).
As a Prince and King
When Munisuvrata became young he was married. Later king Sumitra raja gave the kingdom to Munisuvrata and became an ascetic. For some years Arnath ruled as a regional king. King Munisuvrata was an able king. His entire kingdom and neighbours all were under religious influence.
Path of Renunciation
After a long and successful reign, one day emperor Arnath was thinking about the ever changing seasons. This triggered a chain of sublime thoughts that lead to complete detachment. He renounced all the wealth, power and glory and became an ascetic. He did spiritual practices and wandered around.
Omniscience and Nirvana
After spending three years as an ascetic he arrived in the Sahasramra jungle outside Hastinapur and stood in mediation under a mango tree. With the fire of higher meditation he burnt one after another the four vitiating Karmas including illusory, knowledge obstructing, perception obstructing, and power hindering. Consequently he attained omniscience. His first discourse after attaining omniscience was on the subject of “How to win over the enemies like attachment and aversion.”
In this first religious assembly thousands of individuals became ascetics including his 32 chief disciples headed by Kumbh. Spending a long period of twenty one thousand years wandering and promoting religion, he finally arrived at Sammed shikharji and attained liberation.
The sixth and seventh Vasudevas and Baldevas and the eighth Chakravarti (Subhum) were his followers.
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Ankit mehta
Jai Jinendra
jainism in 21st century 