Details of Jain Lords (11. Shreyanshnathji), India

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Lord Shreyanshnathji

Lord Shreyansnath was the eleveth Jain Tirthankar of the present age (Avasarpini). According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.

Symbol - Rhinoceros

Father	Sri Vishnuji
Mother	Mata Vishnu
Clan Name	Ikshvaku
Source of Descent	Achyut
Date of Descent (Garbha Kalyanaka)	Jyeshtha Krishna Paksh 6
Place of Birth	Simhapuri
Date of Birth (Janma Kalyanaka)	Falgun Krishna Paksh 12
Age	84 Lac Years
Height	80 dhanusha (poles)
Body Colour	Golden
Place of Enlightenment	Simhapuri
Date of Enlightenment (Kevala Gyana Kalyanaka)	Paush Krishna Paksh 15
Date of Diksha (Diksha Kalyanaka)	Falgun Krishna Paksh 13
Diksha Tree or Vat Vriksha	Tanduka
Place of Nirvana	Sammed Shikharji
Date of Nirvana (Moksha Kalyanaka)	Shravan Krishna Paksh 3
First person to donate food	Nanda
Period of Meditation	2 Years
Chief Disciple (Ganadhar)	Goshubh
Head of Female Ascetics	Dharini
God of Organisation (Yaksh)	Yaksharaj
Goddess of Organisation (Yakshini)	Manavi
Heaven	Achyutadevaloka
No. of Muni	8,40,000
No. of Aryika	1,03,000
No. of Shravak	2,79,000
No. of Shravika	4,48,000

Famous Shreyansnath Temples

Shri Digambar Jain Shreyansnath Mandir, Singhpuri, Sarnath, District - Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Jain Shwetambar Bada Mandir, Ramghat, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Previous Births of Shreyansnath

In his earlier incarnation, the being that was to become Lord Shreyansnath purified his soul as king Nalingulm of Kshema town in Pushkarvar island. He performed hard and deep spiritual practices and purified his soul to high extends in his life. Due to this he acquired the Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma and went to the Mahashakra dimension of gods.

Birth of Lord Shreyansnath and Naming Ceremony

From the Mahashakra dimension of gods the being of Lord Shreyansnath descended into the womb of queen Vishnu Devi wife of king Vishnuraja of Simhapur. One morning queen said to king Vishnuraja about the fourteen (sixteen according to the Digambar Jain Sect) auspicious dreams she saw early in the morning. Upon asking about the meaning of these dreams, Kulguru Kaudinya, said that the child which the queen is carrying in her womb would not be an ordinary child but a great person, a pious soul. On the twelfth day of the dark half of the month of Bhadrapad (according to the Hindu Calendar) queen Vishnu Devi gave birth to a son. Entire town filled with the atmosphere of festival, with happiness and celebrations all over. King decided to name his newly born son as Shreyans Kumar.

Shreyansnath as king

From his childhood, Shreyans was a very decent child and very simple one. Time went by very soon. Everybody praised the beauty, dutifulness, bravery, courage, administration, and devotion of Shreyans Kumar. Everything was unmatchable. Though he himself was not interested but because of the happiness of his parents he married several times. One day king Vishnuraja thought that his son is so young but still spends lot of time in meditation and spiritual up-liftment, and he is old and still not bothered. It is the time now that he should put responsibilities of the kingdom on the shoulders of his son and go for the upliftment of his soul. He did exactly the same as he thought. Prince Shreyansh was now King Shreyansh Kumar. His ability to rule was popular among the people and neighboring kingdoms.

Path of Renunciation

Years went by when Shreyans kumar one day saw his eldest son Sudharma, and thought the same as his father thought during his time. This was the time when Shreyansh Swami learned everything about his past life and his true purpose of coming to this world. He started donating for about an year. After an year’s donation of wealth he came out of the castle and removed his hair with his fist, removed all the worldly possessions, uttered the words 'Namo Sidhanam' and disappeared in the crowd. Along with him thousands of other men and women, kings and servants did the same. The whole atmosphere was fragrant, musical and magical.

Omniscience and Nirvana

After a long reign Shreyans Kumar became a Shraman and within a short span of two months attained omniscience on the fifteenth day of the dark half of the month of Magh under a mango tree. He got Nirvana at Sammed shikharji on the third day of the dark half of the month of Shravan. It was during his period that the being that was to be Lord Mahaveera reigned as the first Vasudev Triprishtha. After the death of Triprishtha, his brother Baldev Achal became a disciple of Dharmaghosh who was a follower of Shreyansnath. Achal got liberated in this birth.