DWC-E-016-Bhagwan Mallinath

Bhagwan Mallinath
The total absence of any discrimination, on the grounds of caste, creed, colour, gender or any other physical attribute, on the path of spiritual endeavour leading to the purity of soul, is a unique Jain concept. Man or woman of higher or lower social status, of whatever skin-colour can indulge in unambigous and faultless spiritual practices including penance, meditation, equanimity and inner discipline and lead the soul to the ultimate state of spiritual development-the state of Arihant of Siddha. With this there exists another unique concept that any mental aberration including anger, conceit and deceit tarnishes the spiritual endeavour-no matter how lofty it is. It is not only at the physical level, but also at the spiritual level-even if it is done for spiritual gains-that any influence of any of these aberrations on conduct is prohibited.
Even a little deceit or cheating for the purpose of gaining competitive excellence in the spiritual achievements tarnishes the purity of righteousness. This concept emerges out in a vivid and touching manner in the story of the life of Bhagwan Mallinath. Because of such slight aberration in the earlier birth this soul took birth as a woman. Her divine beauty and charm made her the object of attention and love for six powerful rulers. For this unparalleled beauty came marriage proposals from these six kings. The rejection of these proposals lead to a terrible war which was diplomatically avoided by the sharp intelligence of Princess Malli. Not only this, she also released the six kings from the trap of infatuation for physical beauty by making them see what obnoxious things were filled within the attractive human body. Once the lamp of spiritual light was lit each one of them accepted the spiritual path.
In the eighth chapter of the Jnata-Sutra this story is available in greater detail. This version has been written by Muni Shri Kirtiratna Vijay Ji and Muni Shri Hemchandra Vijay Ji, the scholarly disciples of Acharya Shri Vijay Kalapurna Surishvar Ji M. We express our gratitude for their contribution.
          -Srichand Surana 'Saras'

• Diwakar Chitra Katha   
• Title : Bhagwan Mallinath
• Serial: 16
• No. Of Pages : 36
• Language : English
• Publisher : Shree Diwakar Prakashan
• First Published On : ……