Worship Hindu Gods

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WEL COME TO Indian Scriptures
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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
Rishabdevas mother so he realised that the child
in the Queens 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.
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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.
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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.
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Mahavir 24TH Tirthankar
Bhagavan Mahavirs 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. Mahavirs 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.
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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.
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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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