Chandraprabhu Swami Stories: Exploring the Past and Last Births

Recognized by the moon symbol, Shree Chandraprabhu swami is the eighth Tirthankara of the current time cycle. He was the son of Queen Lakshmana and King Mahasen of Chandranan Nagri. Vijay Yaksh is His Shasan Dev and Bhrikruti Devi is His Shasan Devi. His symbol is moon.

Let’s now go through the life stories of the Lord’s past two births, prior to His birth as Tirthankara. Finally, we will go through His final birth story.

The Third Last Birth as King Padmaraja and the Second Last Birth in the Heaven

Chandraprabhu bhagwan, in His third-last birth, was a King named Padma in Ratnasanchaya Nagri in Mangalavati Vijay region in Ghatki Khand. Being a religious soul, He ruled over his kingdom with utter detachment. During his reign, people in his kingdom experienced lots of happiness and peace.

During this time, he experienced utmost dispassion for worldly life and took Diksha. By sincerely adhering to severe penances, abstinences and meditations, he bound the Tirthankara-naam-gotra-karma.

However, before being born as a Tirthankara, he reincarnated as a celestial being in the Vijayant Vimaan heaven.

The Last Birth as a Tirthankara Bhagwan Chandraprabhu Swami

After spending a long lifespan in the Vijayant Anuttar heaven, the soul of King Padma descended into the womb of Queen Lakshmana, the wife of King Mahasen who ruled in Chandaranan Nagriin Bharat Kshetra.

Owing to the moon-like complexion at the time of birth, the son was named Chandraprabhu. Right from the time in the womb, the Tirthankara Lord had three types of spiritual knowledge namely, Mati Gnan, Shrut Gnan and Avadhi Gnan. He grew young amidst luxuries. The prince then got married and was coronated as a King. He ruled the kingdom for a very long time.

Later, upon the request of celestial beings, Shree Chandraprabhu took Diksha, and consequently, attained the fourth Gyan, the Manahparyay Gnan. During the next three months, He finished all His karma and attained Keval-Gnan (Absolute Knowledge).

The celestial beings then arranged the Samavasaran, the divine pavilion wherein the Lord could be seen from all four directions. In Samvasaran, He gave Deshna to crores of people. Through this Deshna, He directed people towards liberation (moksha).

The significance of the Deshna of a Tirthankara is that it reverses one’s worldly tendencies or inclinations of the chit (the inner faculty of knowledge and vision) and directs them towards liberation.

Our inner tendencies are in a constant search for happiness. It believes that there is happiness in eating, drinking and having money, sex, wife, children, cars and bungalows. According to this belief, one engrosses the mind, speech and body in obtaining these sources of happiness.

However, all sources of worldly happiness are temporary! The worldly happiness, is thus, temporary. However, the Soul or the Self inside each living being permanent. Things end, but the Soul does not come to an end.

When this life ends, one takes the next birth. Life after life, one is unable to find permanent happiness. If one finds permanent happiness even once, then one does not have to wander anywhere else. However, from where does one find permanent happiness? Owing to the societal influence right from the childhood, a person ends up entangling himself in temporary objects.

It is only when enormous high-quality meritorious karma unfolds that one realizes the fact that nothing is worthwhile in these temporary things; the real happiness is only and only in the Self, in the Soul. When this fact clicks within, the tendencies, instead of wandering outside, get redirected inwards!

Thereafter, the tendencies stay only in the Self forever. Even if they go out, one does not feel happiness in anything, as the permanent happiness of the Self is experienced; such is the transition! We can attain this happiness from the One who constantly dwells in the happiness of the Self!

When a Tirthankar gives Deshna, He makes people realize the true nature of this world – its transient nature! He makes them realize that there is no true happiness in this world; rather, there is absolute filth. When one realizes this truth, the illusory attachment ceases, the tendencies return inside and one then gets free from all the entanglements.   

Revealing the grimy composition of the body, Chandraprabhu Bhagwan gave beautiful Deshna on Asuchi bhavna in His Samvasaran. He explained how there is nothing but only filth in this body. Upon peeling off the skin, there is nothing but blood, pus, bones and flesh. Skin is like a cloth-sheet that covers all of them. The moment the skin is removed, there is nothing but only filth and odour. If stomach is torn open, there is only filth of urine and stools.

So, upon realizing how it is inside, the illusory attachment or entrapment does not happen. Inside the human body, there is nothing but only diseases. Inside it, there are 3.5 crore pores; in each pore, there lies 1.75 diseases. However, until the disease manifests and stops us from functioning regularly, we do not realize the presence of diseases; we do not understand that this body is a factory of asuchi (filth).

Therefore, one who has a firm resolution to follow celibacy should see post-mortem. Through it, it is easy to realize asuchi when the first layer of skin is removed. Even if there are boils or leprosy spots, how ugly does the face look! The face that is so good-looking is not at all pleasant when the skin is removed; rather it takes a horrible look.

With this vision towards inside, this reality of filthiness is recognized. Truly speaking, this is how it is inside! Seeing the post-mortem process, one develops such detachment that neither vision will taint, nor lust will trigger within.

A Story on Asuchi Bhavna

There is a nice story of Sanath Kumar. He was a Chakravarti, meaning the King of the Kings on the planet. His valour, wealth, power and beauty were matchless. His beauty was so extraordinary such that it was praised even in the heavens by the celestial beings.

Listening to this, a couple of celestial beings decided to go and see his beauty. So, they disguised themselves as Brahmins and reached the palace of Sanath Kumar, wherein the King was getting massaged by his servants in the massage room.

King Sanath Kumar asked them who were they and why were they here. The Brahmins disclosed that they were there to watch his beauty. This pleased the King a lot. Feeling proud, he asked them to come and see him sitting on the throne in the courtroom, where he would be sitting fully dressed and nicely embellished as a King!

Later, when he was proudly seated on the throne, the Brahmins entered the courtroom. However, they did not express any pleasure on seeing his beauty. King Sanath, who had anticipated loads of praise to flow from the mouth of the Brahmins, was quite surprised to see them standing silent with loss of interest in the King’s beauty in the courtroom.

He asked them why they were silent and what the matter was. The Brahmins revealed, “There is a horrible disease in your body. Your body is full of poison, full of toxic matter within.” King Sanath became furious and told, “On what basis you are saying this?”

Upon this reaction, the Brahmins asked him to spit on the floor and allow the fly to sit on it. The King did so. Soon a fly sat on the spit and died immediately. Seeing this King Sanath developed tremendous detachment towards his body of which he was very proud. He uttered, “Oh! There is so much poison in my body. This is very wrong. Such a body can never be trusted. Yet I was bloating with pride that how beautiful my body is!”

With this incident, King Sanath Kumar realized that this body is full of asuchi and there is no scope of attachment towards it now. With this realization, He instantly renounced the world to become a Muni and left everything behind in search of permanent happiness, in quest of ultimate liberation.

While he was penancing, those Brahmins re-appeared before the King. However, this time, they appeared in the form of Vaid and requested him that they could treat his disease and make him disease-free.

Muni Sanath had developed complete detachment towards his body due to which he replied, “I have no such desire. I am not bothered of this body, as I am not this body. It is my neighbour, and I am the Soul. You do what you like.” Such was the realization of Asuchi by the King of all Kings on the Earth! Still, the two celestial beings immediately cured Muni Sanath after which He progressed on the path of ultimate liberation.

Nirvana

Through the Deshna of Tirthankar Chandraprabhu Swami, lakhs of people realized this physical nature, took Diksha from the Lord, attained the Knowledge of the Self (Soul) and progressed on the path of ultimate liberation (Moksha). This included lakhs of Sadhus and Sadhvis (Saints) and Shravaks and Shravikas (householders).

Datta was his first Gandhar (chief disciple of the Tirthankara). Chandraprabhu had 93 other Gandhars. Later, He attained Nirvana from the Sammed Shikarji Mountain.

This is how He attained the eternal bliss of the Soul and now dwells in it forever!