Ajay Kumar at 17:37, 5 September 2023

2023-09-05T17:37:46Z

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{{Short description|Mythical king in Jainism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Jain
| name = Bharata Chakravarti
| deity_of = 1st ''[[Chakravartin]]'' (universal monarch)
| image = File:Bharata Chakravartin - Chandragiri.jpg
| caption = Statue of Bharata as a monk at [[Chandragiri Hill]], [[Shravanabelagola]]
| alt = Bharata Chakravartin
| color = Skin
| spouse = Subhadra
| father = [[Rishabhanatha]]
| siblings =
| mother = Sumangala
| children = [[Marichi #Jainism|Prince Marichi]] and Prince Arkakirti
| successor = [[King Sagara|Sagara]]
| birth_place = Vinita
| moksha_place = Astapad
}}
{{Jainism}}
'''Bharata''' was the first ''[[chakravartin]]'' (universal emperor or possessor of ''chakra'') of [[Avasarpini]] (present half time cycle). He was the eldest son of [[Rishabhanatha]], the first ''[[tirthankara]]''. The ancient name of [[India]] was named "Bhāratavarsha" or "Bhārata" or "Bharata-bhumi" after him. He had two sons from his chief-queen Subhadra, Arkakirti and [[Marichi]]. He is said to have conquered all six parts of the world and to have engaged in a fight with [[Bahubali]], his brother, to conquer the last remaining city
of the world.

According to the [[Digambara]] sub-tradition of Jainism, in his later years, he renounced the world, led an ascetic life, and attained ''[[kevalajnana]]'' (omniscience). According to the [[Svetambara]] Jains, he attained ''kevalgyana'' (omniscience) after which he renounce the world. He gained kevalgyana when he realised there is no beauty in our bodies and hence renounced the world being ''kevalgyani'' (omniscient) and then attained [[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]].

==Life in traditional accounts==

===Early life and family===
[[File:14 Ratna of Chakravartin.png|thumb|left|14 Ratna of Chankravartin]]

In a Jain legend, Yasasvati Devi, senior-most queen of [[Rishabhanatha]] (first Jain ''[[tirthankara]]''), saw four [[auspicious dreams]] one night. She saw the sun and the moon, the [[Mount Meru]], the lake with swans, earth and the ocean. Rishabhanatha explained her that these dreams meant that a ''[[chakravartin]]'' ruler will be born to them who will conquer whole of the world.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=89}} Then, Bharata was born to them on the ninth day of the dark half of the month of ''[[Chaitra]]''.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=66}}{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=90}}{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1987|p=112}} He was a ''[[Kshatriya]]'' born in [[Ikshvaku dynasty]].{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=92}} His education included special emphasis on law and the science of polity of kings. He also had interest in dancing and art.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=93}} Bharata married many princesses during his world conquest and Subhadra was his chief queen.{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1987|p=72}}{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=141}} He was succeeded by his son Arka Kirti (founder of [[Suryavansha]]).{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=106}} Bharata also had another son named [[Marichi]], who was one of the previous incarnation of [[Mahavira]], the twenty-fourth ''tirthankara''.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=118}}

===Conquest and administration===
[[File:भरत-बाहुबली युद्ध.jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of Bharata-[[Bahubali]] fight]]
[[File:Bharat Bhagwan - Connaught Place (3).jpg|thumb|{{convert|31|ft}} Bharat statue, [[Connaught Place, New Delhi]] ]]

Bharata is believed to be the first ''[[chakravartin]]'' (ruler of rulers) of the present half cycle of [[Jain cosmology]].{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=341}}{{sfn|Wiley|2004|p=54}} According to Jain legends, Rishabhanatha distributed his kingdom to his hundred sons while becoming a ''muni'' ([[Jain monk]]). Bharata is said to have got the city of Vinita ([[Ayodhya]]) whereas [[Bahubali]] is claimed to have got the city of Podanapur ([[Bodhan]]).{{sfn|Titze|1998|p=8}} Legends further state that Bharata's coronation was followed by a long journey of world conquest. During his ''[[digvijaya (conquest)|digvijaya]]'' (winning six divisions of earth in all directions), he is believed to have acquired the nine ''nidhis'' (most precious treasures) and fourteen ''ratna'' (jewels). After completing his world-conquest, he is said to have proceeded for his capital Ayodhyapuri with a huge army and the divine ''chakra-ratna'' (spinning, disk-like super weapon with serrated edges).{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2013|p=x}}

The ''chakra-ratna'' supposedly stopped on its own at the entrance of the capital signalling that there still remain his 99 brothers who have refused submission to his supreme authority. 98 of them are claimed to have become monks giving him their kingdoms.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2013|p=x-xi}} Bahubali refused to submit and challenged him for a fight.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=143}} Three kinds of contests are depicted to have been held between Bharata and Bahubali. These were eye-fight (staring at each other), ''jala-yuddha'' (water-fight) and ''mala-yuddha'' (wrestling). Bahubali is said to have won all the three contests. In the last fight, Bahubali lifted Bharata up on his shoulder instead of throwing him down on the ground. He is said to have gently placed him on the ground instead, out of an affectionate regard for him. Humiliated and infuriated, Bharata is believed to have called for his ''chakra-ratna''. Instead of harming Bahubali, the weapon is believed to have circled around him before coming to a rest. This is believed to have happened because Jain tradition states that such divine weapons lose their effectiveness when confronted with their master's close relations.{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2013|p=xi}} After this Bahubali, developed a desire for renunciation and gave up his kingdom to become a monk.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=145}}

Bharata is claimed to be the first law-giver of the current half-cycle in Jain tradition.{{sfn|Champat Rai Jain|1929|p=110}} He is said to have added the fourth ''varna'', ''Brahmanas'', to the three-fold varna-system created by Rishabhanatha which consisted of ''[[ksatriya]]s'', ''[[vaishya]]s'' and ''[[shudra]]s''.{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=341}}{{sfn|von Glasenapp|1999|pp=352–353}}{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|pp=16-17}} Their role, as mentioned in tradition, was to meditate, learn, teach and search for knowledge.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=17}}

=== Renunciation ===
According to [[Digambara]] texts, when Bharata discovered that he is becoming old due to a white hair in his head, he immediately decided to become a [[Jain monk]]. Because of the effect of his growing renunciation over the years, he destroyed his inimical karmas within an ''antaramuhūrta'' (less than forty-eight minutes) and attained ''[[Kevala Jnana]]'' (omniscience).{{sfn|Vijay K. Jain|2013|p=xii}} [[Svetambara]] traditional accounts reject the claim of his renunciation and maintain that he gained omniscience after the death of his father.{{sfn|Wiley|2004|p=54}}

==Legacy and adoration==

[[File:Dreams of Bharata.jpg|thumb|Warnings of Bharata]]
[[Rishabhanatha]] was the son of [[Nabhi]]raja, and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after his name, the land the conquered was known as Bharat.

===Temples===
Some [[Jain temple]]s contain images of Bharata as a ''Jain'' monk, including one at [[Shravanabelagola]]. The [[Koodalmanikyam Temple]] in [[Kerala]] was originally a Jain temple dedicated to Bharata as the main deity. In May 2017, the tallest statue of lord Bharata with a height of 45 ft (35 ft body + 12 ft pedestal) weighing about 50 ton was erected in Mangalgiri (Shri kshetra bharat ka bharat), Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Earlier it was planned to erect a 57 ft tall monolithic statue comprising 45 ft body and 12 ft pedestal weighing about 100 ton, however, it was broken in the process of erection and therefore, a shorter statue was created and successfully erected.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bhaskar.com/news/MP-SAG-MAT-latest-sagar-news-062013-2580683-NOR.html|title=Mahamastakabhishek being done daily in Lord Mangalgiri, Lord Bharat|publisher=[[Dainik Bhaskar]]|date=May 11, 2017}}</ref>

===Literature===
''[[Ādi purāṇa]]'', a 10th-century Jain text deals with the ten lives of the first ''tirthankara'', Rishabhanatha, also known as Adinatha, and his two sons, Bharata and Bahubali.<ref>{{citation |title=History of Kannada literature |url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/literature/history2.htm |work=kamat.com }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Students' Britannica India |volume=1-5 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |date=2000 |isbn=0-85229-760-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AE_LIg9G5CgC }}</ref> ''Bharatesha Vaibhava'' : also known as ''Bharatesvara Charite'' depicts the life story of Bharata Chakravartin was written in the 16th century by [[Ratnakaravarni]].{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

== See also ==
{{commons category|Bharata}}
* [[Chandragupta Maurya]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist|20em}}

===Sources===
* {{citation |editor-last=Doniger |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy Doniger |title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC |year=1993 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |isbn=0-7914-1381-0 }}
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Champat Rai |author-link=Champat Rai Jain |title=Risabha Deva - The Founder of Jainism |url=https://archive.org/details/RisabhaDeva-TheFounderOfJainism |publisher=The Indian Press Limited |location=[[Allahabad]] |year=1929 |quote={{PD-notice}} |ref={{sfnref|Champat Rai Jain|1929}} }}
* {{citation |last=Jain |first=Vijay K. |title=Ācārya Nemichandra's Dravyasaṃgraha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9CJ3jZpcqYC |publisher=Vikalp Printers |year=2013 |isbn=9788190363952 |ref={{sfnref|Vijay K. Jain|2013}} |quote={{PD-notice}} }}
* {{citation |last=Jaini |first=Padmanabh S. |author-link=Padmanabh Jaini |title=Collected Papers on Jaina Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPggiM7y1aYC |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |date=2000 |isbn=81-208-1691-9 }}
* {{citation |last=Sangave |first=Vilas Adinath |author-link=Vilas Adinath Sangave |title=Facets of Jainology: Selected Research Papers on Jain Society, Religion, and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzEQJHWUwXQC |date=2001 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |location=Mumbai |isbn=978-81-7154-839-2 }}
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Natubhai |title=Jainism: The World of Conquerors |url={{Google books|qLNQKGcDIhsC|plainurl=yes}} |volume=I |date=2004 |orig-year=First published in 1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1938-2 |ref={{sfnref|Natubhai Shah|2004}} }}
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Umakant P. |title=Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana: Jaina iconography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_y_P4duSXsC |date=1987 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=81-7017-208-X |ref={{sfnref|Umakant P. Shah|1987}} }}
* {{citation|last=Titze|first=Kurt|title=Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-Violence|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|edition=2|date=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=loQkEIf8z5wC|isbn=978-81-208-1534-6 }}
* {{citation |last=von Glasenapp |first=Helmuth |author-link=Helmuth von Glasenapp |title=Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation |date=1999 |location = [[Delhi]] |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzEzXDk0v6sC |isbn=81-208-1376-6 |trans-title=Der Jainismus: Eine Indische Erlosungsreligion }}
* {{citation |first=Kristi L. |last=Wiley |title=Historical Dictionary of Jainism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCT-CQAAQBAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6558-7 }}

{{Jain Gods}}
{{Jainism topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Solar dynasty]]
[[Category:Salakapurusa]]
[[Category:People in Jain texts]]

Bharata Chakravartin - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 17:37, 5 September 2023