Rishabha

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seated Rishabha or Adinath (around 850)
seated Rishabha or Adinath (around 1000)
standing Rishabha or Adinath (around 1150)

According to tradition, Rishabha ( Sanskrit ऋषभ ṛṣabha), Rishabhanata (often also Adinath = 'ancestor') is considered the first Tirthankara ('ford preparer') and thus the founder of Jainism in India . The Bhagavatapurana tells of his wandering life and the foundation of Jainism; it even mentions him as an avatar of Vishnu .

Lore

The name Rishabha is mentioned in several older Hindu texts, but it is not until Adi-Purana , a 10th century script, that his life is told in more detail: Accordingly, he was the son of King Nabhi and his wife Marudevi from the semi-mythical Ikshvaku dynasty and grew up in the city of Ayodhya .

As a ruler he was active as a bringer of culture and taught the still uncivilized people of his time agriculture and cattle breeding and instructed them in the arts and mathematics. The marriage, the cremation of the dead and the festivities in honor of the gods are also attributed to him.

Rishabha had two wives - Yasaswati (or Nanda or Sumangala ) gave birth to Bharata and his sister Brahmi ; Sunanda, however, was the mother of Bahubali and his sister Sundari . He had a total of 100 sons.

In the middle of his life, Rishabha decided to become a non-dispossessed and non-violent ascetic and divided his empire among his eldest sons - Bharata received the old heartland with the capital Ayodhya; Bahubali (also called Gomateshvara) received the southern part with the capital Podanpur. A dispute broke out between the two, which almost resulted in a fratricidal war, but was decided by a wrestling match, from which Bahubali emerged victorious; but then he renounced his royal dignity and decided - like his father - to live an ascetic and non-violent life. Bharata became the sole ruler - the name 'Bharata' for India goes back to him.

Legend has it that at the end of his life Rishaba fasted and attained enlightenment on Mount Kailash .

presentation

Rishabha is shown both sitting and standing - both are possible meditation postures. In seated representations, the hands are placed one inside the other with the palms facing upwards; in standing representations, the arms hang down at the sides of the body, but without touching it ( kayotsarga ). His head hair sometimes falls down to the shoulders; it is usually a little longer than that of the other tirthankaras. His companion is a bull. Like all Tirthankaras, he is distinguished by a breast jewel, which symbolizes his inner purity, and by low-hanging earlobes, which refer to his princely or royal origin, as they were once hung with heavy earrings.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Rishabhanatha  - collection of images, videos and audio files