Page:The Heart of Jainism (IA heartofjainism00stevuoft).djvu/81

There was a problem when proofreading this page.
AND DISCIPLES
53

child’s birth, so he was given the name of Su (good) pārśva (side). His emblem is the Svastika symbol 卐. Unlike the other earlier Tīrthaṅkara he attained mokṣa with only five hundred companions. Nine thousand crores of sāgara of time had elapsed since the death of his predecessor, and his height was two hundred bow-shots.

8. Ċandraprabhu.After a further interval of nine hundred crores of sāgara of time the eighth Tīrthaṅkara was born; his height was one hundred and fifty bow-shots. Before his birth his mother (the wife of the Rajput king of Ċandrapurī) longed to drink the moon (ċandra). To assuage her craving, a plate of water was one night handed to her in such a way that the moon was reflected in it; when the child was born, he was found to be as bright and white as the moon, which accordingly became his emblem, and he was called Ċandraprabhu.

9. Suvidhinātha.Two names are given to the next Tīrthaṅkara. Owing to the peace he brought to a distracted family, all of whose kingly relatives were warring against one another, he is called Suvidhinātha, for on his birth they gave up fighting and took instead to performing their religious duties (suvidhi); but as his teeth were so beautiful that they resembled the buds of an exquisite flower (puṣpa), he was also called Puṣpadanta. There is a dispute over his emblem: the Śvetāmbara say it is the crocodile, while certain Digambara declare it is the crab. Ninety crores of sāgara elapsed before his birth, and his height was one hundred bow-shots.

10. ŚitaḷanāthaThe tenth Tīrthaṅkara had a marvellous power of parting coolness (śitaḷanā) to fevered patients. Before his birth his mother laid her hand on her husband, the Rajput king of Bhaddilapura, and immediately the fever which had defied all the efforts of his physicians left him, and all his life long the saint had a similar power, hence his name, Śitaḷanātha, Lord of Coolness. His sign is the Śrīvatsa svastika , or according to the Digambar, the Ficus religiosa. His height was ninety bow-shots,