Worship Hindu Gods

1. WEL COME TO Indian Scriptures

2. Hindu Gods Hindus believe in one Supreme Godhead called Brahman who is impersonal without form, shape or attributes, who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. He transcends time and space and he can be worshipped as the Supreme consciousness or Paramatma, as Light or Love. When God is viewed as a Personal Being he is called variously as Iswara or Bhagawan. He manifests as an image or Murti, idol or icon, which is viewed as a personification of Divinity. God is invoked through mantras, rituals, chants, Pujas, bhajans, songs etc, in short anything that lets a devotee tune in to thoughts of divinity and helps him focus his mind on Hindu Gods. He is worshipped out of love not fear. This is the most unique aspect of Hinduism. His glory cannot be fathomed though we get glimpses through the outpourings of His saints and devotees. Thus a personal god helps a worshipper to easily comprehend and connect with the otherwise inscrutable, incomprehensible Supreme.

3. Jain Tirthankars In Jainism, Tirthankaras are human beings who have destroyed all their Ghati(destructive) karmas and become leaders and spiritual role models for those seeking salvation. They are entirely free of desires, passions and dwell exclusively within their soul. Due to their high degree of purity and spiritual advancement, they have unlimited powers which they use solely for the spiritual upliftment of mankind. At the end of their life span the Tirthankar becomes a Siddha ending the cycles of birth and death. Time or Kaal is beginningless and endless according to Jain philosophy. In each half cycle of time, 24 Tirthankaras are born. Thus in every time cycle 48 Tirthankaras are born in two batches of 24. The previous lives of Tirthankars were usually royalty as recorded in Jain tradition and their clan was usually recorded in legendary Hindu history.

4. Sambhavnath-Birth and Childhood Sambhavnath in his previous birth was King Vipulvahan who ruled Kshempuri in the Airavat area of Mahavideh for a long time after the Nirvana of Bhagavan Ajitnath. He loved and cared for his subjects and was a compassionate and kind hearted ruler. Once during a drought in the kingdom there was no food and water so the King opened up his granaries for the people and used the money from his treasury to import food grains. He used his kitchen to feed all the monks and ascetics and was determined that none would be sent hungry advising his caretakers in the kitchen to see that no one who approached them were turned away.

5. Padmaprabh The 6th Tirthankar Padmaprabh in his earlier incarnation was King Aparajit who ruled over Susima town in the Purva Videha area. He was a pious and peace loving person. Once listening to a discourse on the goal of human life and its earthly bondage he became detached and taking diksha from Acharya Pihitashrava embraced ascetism. His soul through countless lifetimes had undergone rigorous spiritual penances and achieved an exalted state of enlightenment hence he was reborn as the next Tirthankar. His soul descended into the womb of Queen Sushima, wife of King Dharan of Kaushambi. During her pregnancy, the Queen had a desire to sleep on a bed made up of lotus flowers.

6. Suparshvanath 7TH Tirthankar Suparshvanath in his earlier incarnation was King Nandisen of Kshetrapuri. He was highly spiritually enlightened and due to his rigorous penances and disciplines he was reborn as a Tirthankar. His soul entered the womb of Queen Prithvi Devi, wife of king Pratishthasen of Varanasi. It is said that the Kingdom was in danger of being attacked by neighbouring kingdoms but when the child was in the womb suddenly the attitude of the Kings changed and everyone wished to have friendly relations with King Nandisen. The King was very happy and realised that it was the power of divinity in the unborn child that spread good vibrations everywhere resulting in peace and brotherhood in the kingdom which would soon spread to neighbouring Kingdoms. Soon the Queen gave birth to a son on the twelfth day of the Jyeshta Shukla paksh of Visakha month. There was love, peace and prosperity everywhere. Since the Kings or enemies (Parsh) who wanted to attack their kingdom now became friends (Suparsh), the child was named Suparshva. After some years as he grew up, they got him married. Later his father decided to hand over the Kingdom to him and went away to the forest to meditate and pursue spiritual practices. Suparshva then ruled the kingdom wisely for many years conducting the affairs of the state ably and looking after his subjects well.

7. Suparshvanath 7TH Tirthankar Pushpadanta or Suvidhinath was King Mahapadma of Pushkalvati Vijay in his earlier incarnation. His soul had already undergone rigorous spiritual disciplines in earlier lifetimes due to which he had reached an exalted state of spiritual enlightenment. Therefore he was reborn as the next Tirthankar. His soul descended into the womb of Queen Rama Devi who was the wife of King Sugriv of Kakandi town. The queen then saw the auspicious sixteen dreams which meant that the child in her womb was a Tirthankar. Their Muni Shri Shantipriya explained to them the auspiciousness of the birth and the good fortune that they both had to become the parents of a Tirthankar. Both the King and Queen were overjoyed. The Queen gave birth to a son on the fifth day of the Magashirsha month at Krishna Paksh of the Hindu calendar. During the pregnancy the Queen discovered that she could perform even the most difficult tasks with great ease and in the correct procedure which everyone around her noticed to their great astonishment. The royal priest declared that this was due the quality of the child in her womb and so the child was named Suvidhi(correct process).

8. Dharmanath 15TH Tirthankar Dharmanath in his previous incarnation was King Dridhrath of Baddilpur town in Mahavideha area. He was a very pious and religious King. Due to severe penances of a number of births he had achieved a very high state of spiritual enlightenment due to which he was reborn as a tirthankar. He reincarnated as God in the Vijyanta dimension after which his soul descended into the womb of Suvrata Devi who was the wife of King Bhanuraja of Ratnapuri. The King knew about the dreams of King Rishabdeva’s mother so he realised that the child in the Queen’s womb was a Tirthankar. Both of them were overjoyed at their good fortune. The Queen soon gave birth to a son on the third day of the bright half of the month of Magh(according to the Hindu calendar). During the pregnancy the King and queen including the subjects devoted all their time to religious activities like charity, penances and other noble activities. Realising that it was due to the influence of the purity and Godliness of the unborn soul, the new born was named Dharmanath.

9. Kunthunath 17TH Tirthankar Kunthunath in his earlier incarnation was King Simhavaha of Khadgi town in Mahavideha area. He was highly religious and God loving. After some time he gave up his kingdom and took Diksha from Samvaracharya. He had been undergoing rigorous spiritual penances over several lifetimes and had reached a very exalted state of enlightenment due to which he was reborn as a Tirthankar. He reincarnated in the Sarvarthasiddha dimension of the Gods and then his soul descended into the womb of Queen Shri Devi who was the wife of King Shursen of Hastinapur. When she informed the King, he recognised the signs of a Tirthankar and informed her and both of them were overjoyed that they were blessed to be the parents of a Tirthankar. Soon time passed and the Queen was blessed with a son on the fourteenth day of Krishna Paksh of the month of Vaisakh of the Hindu calendar. As the Queen had dreamt of a heap of gemstones known as Kunthu during her pregnancy the child was named Kunthunath. He soon grew up and was married. The King then handed over the kingdom to him and went to the forest for spiritual practices.

10. Mallinath 19TH Tirthankar It is said that Mallinath in his previous life was King Mahabal of Vitshoka. He had six other Kings who were very close friends of his. All of them had led a close knit life together and they decided to take up ascetism. They took Diksha from Varadharma Muni and began their spiritual penances sincerely. But Mahabal always wished to be ahead of his friends hence would secretly practise without their knowledge. When asked he would pretend otherwise. When asked he would pretend otherwise. Therefore he had to be reborn as a woman due to his deception. But he had reached a very high state of spiritual advancement and hence along with the other six other friends reincarnated in the Anuttar dimension of Gods. But the soul of Mahabal being highly evolved descended into the womb of Queen Prabhavati who was the wife of King Kumbh of Mithila. During the pregnancy the Queen had a desire to smell flowers all the time so she slept on a bed of five different colours of fragrant flowers. On the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Margashirsh, everyone was surprised to see that the Queen had given birth to a beautiful girl.

11. Mahavir 24TH Tirthankar Bhagavan Mahavir’s birth is traced back from his 27th life when he was a village elder and forester named Nayasar who was pious and compassionate and served some ascetics with great devotion who blessed him and from this time it is said that Samyaktva or the seeds of righteousness were sowed in him .This is the starting point of spiritual evolution when a soul lost in the darkness of illusion gets the first glimpse of spiritual light. Mahavir’s evolution is thus traced from this period. He was then reborn as a God in the Saudharm dimension of the Gods. He then reincarnated as Marichi, the son of Bharat and the grandson of Rishabhdeva, the first Tirthankar.

12. Arahnath 18th Tirthankar Arahnath in his earlier incarnation was King Dhanpati of Sushima city in Mahavideha area. After ruling for a number of years he took Diksha from Samvar Muni. He had done rigorous penances for a number of lifetimes and had attained a very exalted state of enlightenment. Thus his soul was reborn as the next Tirthankar. He reincarnated in the Graiveyak dimension of the Gods and then descended into the womb of Queen Mitradevi who was the wife of King Sudarshana of Hastinapur. Both of them were overjoyed to hear that the child to be born would be a Tirthankar. The Queen soon thereafter gave birth to a son on the tenth day of the Krishna Paksh of the month of Margashirsh according to the Hindu calendar. The Queen had also dreamt of a gem studded wheel(Arah) and hence the child was named Arahnath. Time passed by and the boy grew up and they got him married. Time passed by and the boy grew up and they got him married. The King then handed over the Kingdom to his son and retired to the forest to practice spiritual disciplines. Arahnath ruled the Kingdom wisely. Soon the disc weapon ‘Chakra’ appeared in his armoury and he proceeded to conquer the kingdom with his mighty army. It is said that he conquered the six continents and in his attendance were thirty two thousand Kings, thus he became a Chakravarti.

13. Parshvanath 23rd Tirthankar Parshvanath was born in the Ikshvaku dynasty to Queen Vama Devi and King Aswasena of Varanasi. The Queen witnessed fourteen dreams which are the signs of the advent of the birth of a Tirthankar. In his earlier incarnation he was Marubhuti, the son of Purohit Vishnubhuti of Potanpur city and then he was reborn as an elephant in the forests of Vindhyachal. His soul then reincarnated as a god in the Sahasrar dimension and then he was born as Prince Kiranveg in the Mahavideha area who became an ascetic. All these births of performing rigorous spiritual penances led to his having reached a very exalted state hence after reincarnating in the Pranat dimension of Gods his soul descended into the womb of Queen Vama Devi who was the wife of King Ashwasena of Varanasi. He was born on the tenth day of the dark half of the month of Paush. During her pregnancy the Queen had seen a snake slithering on the bed near the flank of the King and she had woken him up and saved him from the impending danger so they named him Parshva(flank).

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