The company of great men and women is itself an education. Ideals give courage and strength to the people of a country forever.
The company of great men and women is itself an education. Ideals give courage and strength to the people of a country forever.
India has an uninterrupted history spanning thousands of years. The great heroes of India sacrificed a lot in order to ensure that the people and the country thrive. Fortunately today we have reached an era which will keep us happy living just by living in India.
It’s important that we understand and assimilate the story of heroes like Bahubali, who defeated his brother who was puffed up with pride. The wise winner was smart enough to understand the aim of life at the moment of victory and he gave back the reigns to his brother in order to meditate. Bahubali enriched the lives of his fellow countrymen with the light that was received by him. The people of this region should feel elated to learn that the faith professed by the great soul has been in Kongunad for centuries. Kovai Kizhar C.M. Ramachandran had taken the time and effort to write about all this and more in his book which connects Kongunad with the peace-loving vegetarian Jain faith.
Shravanabelagola in the Hassan district in Karnataka is a sacred place for Jains and there is a splendid and lofty statue of Gommateshwara, whose other name is Bahubali - made of stone on the top of the historic hillock.
The statue got created due to the efforts of Minister Chavundaraya who served under the Ganga ruler Rachamalla in the year 981A.D. Bahubali is an example of the inner strength found in India that is Bharat. He was the ideal man who conquered selfishness, jealousy, pride and anger through his wisdom.
Vrishabanatha was the first of the 24 Jain Theerthankaras and he ruled from Ayodhya in the company of his queens Yashaswathi Devi and Sunanda Devi. Over time Yashaswathi gave birth to a 100 sons and the eldest was Bharatha.
She had a daughter named Sundari too. The younger Sunanda Devi had a son Bahubali and a daughter Brahmi. The king took a lot of care while trying to educate his over 100 kids and each one became fabulous according to his choice and aptitude. Bharatha showed signs of being a great ruler and Bahubali whose name meant one with strong arms was keen in the art of warfare.
Life went on as usual until one day Neelanjane, a nymph came to perform at the court of Vrishabanatha at the behest of Devendra and suddenly her life came to an end during the performance. In order to ensure that the performance did not end, Devendra made sure that the dance went on. However, Vrishabanatha came to know of this and got disgusted towards life for it was ephemeral. Immediately he renounced his kingdom and retired to a life of contemplation.
Bharatha was made the king of Ayodhya and Bahubali was made the king of Paudanapura, while the other sons got smaller kingdoms. Many years passed and Bharatha came to know that his father Vrihabanatha had recieved Kevalajnana (the knowledge that can see and understand everything). It was at the same time that he learnt that divine missiles like Chatra Ratna the umbrella which would protect his army, Chakra Ratna which would give him victory, Danda Ratna which would create routes for him, Charma Ratna or the magic boat which would help him cross many a river, Kakini Ratna which would make his army see in the dark, in addition to all this he got the best 14 beasts and Nava Nidhis or nine forms of wealth. A son was also born and Bharatha reached the pinnacle of happiness. He visited his father Vrishabanatha and listened to him while the senior spoke about virtue and returned to his kingdom.
Bharatha decided to conquer the world and did it with the aid of his weapons. In the process, he subdued his younger brothers too. However, Bahubali refused to give up for he felt that the kingdom was given by his father. Bharatha finally had a single combat with Bahubali. The great Bahubali won the battle of the eyes, the water fight and finally wrestled with Bharatha and defeated him.
The defeated Bharatha sent his Chakra Ratna on Bahubali but it went around him once and came to a halt on his right. Bahubali grew weary on understanding that all this had happened because of the kingdom and therefore he gave it up to his brother immediately, left the place in order to perform tapas.
Bharatha saw the noble act of his brother and tears rolled down his eyes and he implored him not to go away. But Bahubali was keen in resolve and he went to Vrishabanatha, got initiated into tapas. In spite of meditating for years without any clothes with ant hills and creepers around him, Bahubali did not receive what he wanted. His perplexed brother Bharatha went to his father Vrishabanatha and came to know that Bahubali was confined because of the thought that the kingdom in which he was meditating belonged to his brother. This was haunting him and Bharatha went to Bahubali and told him that nothing on earth belonged to anyone. After this revelation Bahubali received enlightenment and he went to many lands in order to share the way to a righteous life. Ultimately he attained salvation. The elder brother Bharatha wished that the fame of Bahubali should last forever and made an emerald statue of him in Paudanapura and it was worshipped with great splendor. This statue went into the sea later. Now there statues of Bahubali in Venooru, Karkala, Bastihalli, Dharmasthala, Shravanagudda, and Shravanabelagola.
The story relating to the installation of the statue is quite interesting. Rachamalla the Ganga ruler was reigning from Talavanapura and the parents of his minister Chavundaraya were Kalaladevi and Mahabaliah. The mother of the minister wanted to see the emerald image of Bahubali and after a resolute journey, they came to Chandragiri. It was at this time that a divine Kushmandinidevi appeared in the dream of Chavundaraya and stated that it would not be possible to see the emerald Bahubali again and suggested that he shoot a golden arrow on the opposite Indragiri hill in order to fulfill the wish of his mother. He did so in his dream itself and the huge boulder on the hill split into two.
He could see the magnificent figure of Bahubali within. He woke up, narrated the story to his mother and with the help of the people and sculptures he got the fabulous statue of Bahubali created. The statue matched the legend of Bahubali and it was 57 feet tall. A day was fixed for the consecration as per religious rites. In spite of pouring a lot of milk on the statue, it never got wet fully. At last, the milk brought by a devout old woman walked up the hill gushed like a stream and touched the feet of Bahubali. Chavundaraya understood that he was just an instrument and all this would not have been possible without the grace of Bahubali. Since Chavundaraya was responsible for all this, the idol came to be known as Gommateshwara the Lord of Gommata which was another name of the minister. It has become part of our culture that every 12 years once the Mahamastakabhisehekara is performed to Lord Gommateshwara in all splendor and people from around the world rally in order to witness it.
A thousand years have passed from the time that the statue of Bahubali was created and the majestic figure continues to stand atop the hill reminding generations of people about the great heights which they can reach on giving up selfishness, desire, and pride.