Shree Chandraprabhu Bhagwan: Life Stories of the Eighth Tirthankara

Shree Chandraprabhu Bhagwan was the eighth Tirthankara of the present time cycle. His symbol (laanchhan) is moon. Vijay Yaksh Dev and Bhrikuti Yakshini Devi are His Shaasan Dev and Shaashan Devi, respectively. Come, let’s now read the life stories of Lord Chandraprabhu’s previous two births and the last birth as a Tirthankara.

Shree Chandraprabhu Bhagwan – Past Births

In the Ghatki Khand’s Pragvideh Kshetra, in its Mangalavati Vijay region’s Ratnasanchaya Nagri, there was a king named Padma Raja. Being a religious Soul, he ruled his kingdom with utter detachment. He gave his subjects abundant happiness and peace.

During this time, he experienced utmost dispassion toward worldly life and took Diksha. By sincerely adhering to self-discipline, practicing penance, following the rules, doing meditation and chanting, he bound the Tirthankara gotra.

After passing a long time doing spiritual practice (sadhana), he then reincarnated as a celestial being in the Vaijyant Vimaan heaven.

Shree Chandraprabhu Bhagwan - Birth, Diksha, Keval Gnan

Upon completing a long lifespan in the heaven, King Padma was born in the Chandranna Nagri of Bharat Kshetra, at King Mahasen and Queen Lakshmana’s place.

Owing to His moon-like complexion and having moon as His symbol, He was named ‘Chandraprabhu’. Right from the time He was in the mother’s womb, Lord had three types of spiritual knowledge (Gnan).

As He grew young, He got married, and was then handed over the throne. After ruling the kingdom for a very long time, upon the request of celestial beings, He took Diksha. Upon taking Diksha, He attained the fourth Gnan, the Manahparyav Gnan. Thereafter, in a short duration of three months, He finished all His remaining karma and attained Keval Gnan (Absolute Knowledge).

Deshna - Asuchi Bhavna

After Lord Chandraprabhu attained Keval Gnan, the celestial beings created the Samovasaran. Seated in the Samovasaran, a Tirthankara Bhagwan gives Deshna to crores of people and directs them towards the path of liberation (Moksha). The very significance of the Tirthankaras’ Deshna is that it reverses the tendencies of one’s chit that are wandering in worldly matters and by directing them towards the Soul, takes them towards liberation.

Our inner tendencies are such that they are constantly wandering only towards the worldly life. To search happiness is the nature of the chit. Wherever you see, it is found striving for happiness only. While hunting for happiness, it wanders everywhere, but does not find that anywhere. Because, based on the belief, the intellect shows, “There is happiness here; there is happiness in eating-drinking, in money, in wife, in five senses, in children, in cars and in bungalows.” Whatever type of belief one has, accordingly, the chit searches for happiness there. Then, one gets after it, trying to obtain happiness from it through the mind, speech and body.  

However, all of this happiness is temporary! Because the thing from which happiness is derived that itself is temporary and the Self (the Soul) is eternal, is permanent. There comes an end of these worldly things, but an end of the Self never comes. This body also comes to an end, but where does the end of Self happen! The Self again goes into the next birth. Therefore, one is not able to free one’s Self from this cycle at all, and nowhere is able to find permanent happiness.

If one finds permanent happiness even once, then one does not have to wander anywhere else. But from where does one find this permanent happiness? A person gets entangled in all these temporary things only, seeks happiness from them only. Because, through societal influence, all this only is inserted into the brain that happiness lies in material things. Right from childhood, one is served ignorance only.

In a rare circumstance, when high-quality meritorious karma (puyanubandhi punya) of crores of lifetimes accumulates, then inside that person, this one vision opens up that all of this is temporary only; here, nowhere is happiness; it’s mere dirt only. Real happiness is only and only in the permanent thing, which I myself am; my Self is in the form of the Soul. When this fact clicks within, the tendencies thereafter, instead of wandering outside, get redirected inwards towards one’s own home (the Soul). Once one tastes one’s own happiness, the tendencies do not go anywhere else!

“‘Vrutti vahe nijbhaavma, parmaarthe samkit!”

Meaning, thereafter, the tendencies stay in one’s own Self, in the Soul only. It does not last outside; even if it goes out a bit, it does not feel happiness there. Because it has tasted the true happiness—the permanent happiness—the happiness of the Soul. If one wants to taste this happiness, it can be attained from the One who constantly dwells in the happiness of that Soul only! When one is tired after hunting happiness everywhere, that’s when one turns towards the Soul.

Whenever a Tirthankara gives Deshna, He makes people realize the true nature of this world—where is there any happiness in this world? Is this happiness real? It’s all mere filth, filth and filth only! What is this body? If the skin is removed, what is there inside? Blood, pus, bones and flesh only! Isn’t the skin like a bedsheet only? If the skin is removed and the stomach is torn, then it is all mere filth only!

If we realize that inside it is all this only, then illusory attachment shall not happen anywhere; we do not get entrapped anywhere. Inside the human body, there is nothing but diseases, diseases and diseases only. In our body, there are 3.5 crore pores; in each pore, there lies 1.75 diseases. This body of ours is full of diseases only. But until a big disease does not manifest and until things do not stop us from functioning regularly, we do not realize the presence of diseases. We do not understand that this body is a factory of asuchi, meaning filth.

One who has a firm decision to follow celibacy should try out seeing post-mortem. In there, when good-looking skin is removed, how filthy it seems! If a small boil bursts, we do not even like to see that face. In case of leprosy, how ugly it looks when just one layer of skin is removed! One does not like to see! Really, inside, it is all this only. If we replace the outer vision with the vision that sees what all is inside, then it is all filth only. When the skin is removed; how horrible it looks! If one tears the stomach and sees what is inside, then it is full of urine-stool only. It stinks; one cannot bear it!

When all of this is seen in the post-mortem, one develops tremendous dispassion inside. In post-mortem, if one sees the eyeballs, skull, etc., then one’s vision would never spoil; lust would not arise at all. This vision needs to be set inside.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan has given 3 vision:

• In the first vision, how would one look if clothes, that make everything seem beautiful, are not there?
• In the second vision, how would it look if the skin is removed?
• In the third vision, how would all of it look if one tears the stomach and sees?

Everything outside looks beautiful but when seen inside, there is filth and filth only. If one sees a post-mortem just once, thereafter, one really experiences this.

A Story of Chakravarti Sanatkumar

Sanath Kumar was a Chakravarti. A Chakravarti is a king of the entire planet; the king of all kings. He has so much of valour that no one can win against him.

Sanath Kumar was very good-looking. His charm and beauty were praised even in heavens. A couple of celestial beings decided to go and see his beauty. So, they disguised themselves as Brahmins and reached the palace of Sanath Kumar. At that time, the king was being massaged by his servant. Seeing the king in this condition, the celestial beings praised him in awe.

Listening to the praise of his beauty, the king felt proud. He invited the Brahmins to come and see his beauty in the courtroom when all the make-up and ornaments are on.

Later, on seeing the king seated on the throne, with the make-up and ornaments adorning his beauty, instead of praising the king, the faces of the Brahmins had fallen. King Sanath, who had anticipated loads of praise to flow from the mouth of the Brahmins, was quite surprised to see them standing silent with loss of interest in the king’s beauty in the courtroom.

He asked them why they were silent. The Brahmins revealed, “There is a horrible disease in your body. Your body is full of poison, full of toxic matter within.” The Brahmins asked him to spit on the floor, on which a fly sat and died immediately. Seeing this, King Sanath developed tremendous dispassion towards his body that he was very proud of and said, “Oh! There is so much poison in my body. There is so much disease in my body. This is wrong. Such a body can never be trusted. I was bloating with pride that how beautiful my body is!”

When a Chakravarti becomes dispassionate, it is an altogether different thing. One who can win over the entire world, how can he not win over his own passions of anger-pride-lust-greed? To win over these, King Sanath Kumar renounced the world. He thought, “This body is full of asuchi. There is no scope of attachment towards it now. This is mere filth; it is mere poison.” Renouncing his kingdom and rule, he took Diksha to attain Moksha.

While Sanath Muni was into worship and penance, two celestial beings re-appeared before the king but in the form of Vaids and they requested him to allow them to treat him. The Muni was dispassionate; He was not in the belief of “I am this body.” He said to the Vaids that do if possible, or else, it will do. The two celestial beings applied their spit on the Muni’s body, and that very moment, he became disease-free. The Muni completed his lifespan thereafter and proceeded on the path of liberation.

Lord Shree Chandraprabhu – Nirvana

Through the Deshna of the Tirthankara Lord Shree Chandraprabhu, lakhs of people took Diksha, attained the Knowledge of the Self (Soul) from the Lord and progressed on the path of ultimate liberation (Moksha). In the Lord’s Sangha, there were 93 Ganadhars (chief disciples of a Tirthankara), and lakhs of Sadhus and Sadhvis, Shravaks and Shravikas. Lord attained Nirvana from the Samet Shikarji Mountain. This is how Lord attained the eternal bliss of the Soul and now dwells in it forever!