Bahubali mizo version

 

Bahubali (English: One With Strong Arms), a much revered figure among was the son of  (the first a of Jainism) and the younger brother of  He is said to have meditated motionless for a year in a standing posture ( and that during this time, climbing plants grew around his legs. After his a year of meditation, Bahubali is said to have attained omniscience ().

Bahubali's other names are Kammateswara, Gommateshwara because of the  dedicated to him. The statue was built by the  minister and commander  it is a 57-foot (17 m) monolith (statue carved from a single piece of rock) situated above a hill in in the  state, . It was built circa 981 A.D. and is one of the largest free-standing statues in the world.

Family life

According to Jain texts, Bahubali was born to Rishabhanatha and Sunanda during the  d He is said to have excelled in studying medicine, archery, , and the knowledge of precious gems. Bahubali had a son named Somakirti (also known as Mahabala). ^{atOptions = { 'key' : '045f4eb56416fbca2b146d92ec95264b', 'format' : 'iframe', 'height' : 250, 'width' : 300, 'params' : {} }; document.write(''); FOOTNOTEChampat_Rai_Jain1929106_6-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;">]} When Rishabhanatha decided to become a monk, he distributed his kingdom among his 100 sons. Bharata was gifted the kingdom of Vinita ) and Bahubali got the kingdom of Asmaka from  having Podanapur as its capital.After winning six divisions of earth in all directions (digvijaya), Bharata proceeded to his capital Ayodhyapuri with a huge army and divine chakra-ratna—spinning, disk-like super weapon with serrated edges. But the chakra-ratna stopped on its own at the entrance of Ayodhyapuri, signalling to the emperor that his 99 brothers have yet not submitted to his authority Bharata's 98 brothers became  and submitted their kingdoms to him. Bahubali was endowed with the final and superior body of extraordinary sturdiness and strength (vajra-ṛṣabhanārācasaṃhanana) like Bharata. He hurled open defiance at the  and challenged him to a fight

The ministers on both sides gave the following argument to prevent war; "The brothers themselves, cannot be killed by any means; they are in their last incarnations in transmigration, and possess bodies which no weapon may mortally wound in warfare! Let them fight out the issue by themselves in other ways." It was then decided that to settle the dispute, three kinds of contests between Bharata and Bahubali would be held. These were eye-fight (staring at each other), water-fight (jala-yuddha), and wrestling (. Bahubali won all the three contests over his elder brother, Bharata.^[

Renunciation[]

Sculpture depicting Bahubali's meditation in posture with vines enveloped around his body )

After the fight, Bahubali was filled with disgust at the world and developed a desire for renunciation. Bahubali abandoned all possessions-kingdom, clothes, ornaments-to become a monk and began meditating with great resolve to attain omniscience .^[

He is said to have meditated motionless in a standing posture ( for a year, during which time climbing plants grew around his legs.^[] However, he was adamant and continued his practice unmindful of the vines, ants, and dust that enveloped his body. According to Jain text Ādi purāṇa, on the last day of Bahubali's one year long fast, Bharata came in all humility to Bahubali and worshiped him with veneration and respect. A painful regret that he had been the cause of his elder brother's humiliation had been disturbing Bahubali's meditation; this was dispersed when Bharata worshipped him.^[ Bahubali was then able to destroy the four kinds of inimical  including the knowledge obscuring karma, and he attained omniscience (kevala gyana). He was now revered as an omniscient being (i).Bahubali finally attained liberation () and became a pure, liberated soul (siddha).^[ As per texts, he was one of the first Digambara monks to have attained moksha in the present half-cycle of time.().