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Krishna’s Cousin Arishtanemi Jain Tirthankara In Veda

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Lord Krishna’s Cousin Arishtanemi is a Tirthankara of Jainism!

Lord Krishna as a child.Image.jpg
Krishna as a child

Arishtanemi is also called as Neminatha.

He is the twenty-second Thirthankara .

Tirthankara means one who helps to cross over, creates a Passage.

Life is considered to be an Ocean of pain, it is called Samsara.

Tirthankara is one who has crossed over the Cycle of Birth and death.

They create the path for those who follow them.

There are Twenty four Tirthankaras, Vardhamana Mahavira being the Twenty Fourth

More Tirthankara will manifest in future.

Buddhism and Jainism are two great religions of India and Jainism precedes Buddhism.

These  two Religions are nastika systems of Indian Thought.

Nastika means one that does not belive in the authority of the Vedas.

We may call these systems as Heterodox.

Jains have excellent system of Logic.

And their Ethical system is very stringent.

I shall be posting on Jainism in detail shortly.

Lord Krishna’s Cousin Arishtanemi was a Jain Tirthankara,  a counterpart of Lord Krishna,a Maha Purusha.

Arishtanemi, (Neminatha) Twenty second Tirthankara Sculpture,Image.jpg
Arishtanemi, (Neminatha) Twenty second Tirthankara of Jainism

 

“The Tirthankaras, along with 12 cakravartins (“world conquerors”), nine vasudevas (counterparts of Vasudeva, the patronymic of Krishna), and nine baladevas (counterparts of Balarama, the elder half-brother of Krishna), constitute the 54 mahapurusas (“great souls”), to which were later added nine prativasudevas(enemies of the vasudevas). Other, more minor, figures include nine naradas (counterparts of the deity Narada, the messenger between gods and humans), 11 rudras (counterparts of the Vedic god Rudra, from whom Siva is said to have evolved), and 24 kamadevas (gods of love), all of which show Hindu influences. There are also four groups of gods, the bhavanavasis (gods of the house), the vyantaras (intermediaries), the jyotiskas(luminaries), and the vaimanikas (astral gods). These deities were assimilated from ancient Indian folk religion.”

Note the Vasus, Rudras and Adityas.

My detailed post follows on this.

“Arishtanemi is a legendary figure. Said to have lived 84,000 years before the coming of the next Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, he is believed to have been the contemporary and cousin of the Hindu god Krishna. Legend holds that on his wedding day, Arishtanemi heard the cries of animals being slaughtered for the marriage feast and immediately renounced the world. The name Arishtanemi (“the rim [nemi] of whose wheel is unhurt [arishta]”) is attributed to a dream his mother had before he was born in which she saw a wheel of black jewels. In paintings of the Shvetambara sect, Arishtanemi always appears black (in paintings of the Digambara sect, he is blue). His symbol is the conch. According to Jain belief, he attained moksha (release from earthly existence) on the Girnar Hills in Kathiawar (in western India), which has become a place of pilgrimage for Jains.

 

wait, we have some thing more intersting.

The Vedas refer to Aritanemi in Svasti Vachana.

Svasti vachana is rendered at the conclusion of an auspicious occasion, to Bless by Auspicious words.

‘HARI OM SVASTI NA INDRO VRIDDHA SHRAVAAH,
SVASTI NA POOSHAAH VISHVA VEDAAH,

SVASTI NA ANTARIKSHYO ARISHTA NEMI,-Yajur Veda

Reference and Citations.

 

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34373/Arishtanemi

 

http://www.maabutbhavani.org/Svasti_Vaachan_Puja%20_rituals.html

 

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jainism#Origins

 

 

Comments

4 responses to “Krishna’s Cousin Arishtanemi Jain Tirthankara In Veda”

  1. Govind joshi Avatar
    Govind joshi

    Neminath was no where mentioned as god or even a part of god. As you explained that his name comes in one of holy mantra doesn’t proov that he is god. Even asuras and detyas are included in laks of hindu holy manrta, it does not proov that they are gods or devta. Dont spread false stories about lord krishna. Tell me one such devotees of neminath like meera, surdas,narsinh mehta(jain), Raskhan, sudama etc of supreme god head krishna. Vision of jainism completely a example of how kaliyug is spreading in this tough phase coming of kaliyug

    Reply
    1. Nirav Avatar
      Nirav

      Wow Govind. You really told me off. I am now straightened because of you! Thank you. Your words were very tough – but I needed to hear them! It will take me days, weeks, months to recover from this lashing.

      Just kidding. Seconds. I’m fine now.

      LOL

      Reply
  2. Nirav Shah Avatar
    Nirav Shah

    Arishtanemi was Krishna’s “kaka’s” (uncle’s) son. He was much older than Krishna. He was for example 70 yrs old while Krishna was 20 yrs old. Big difference in age. Krishna, being the son of the King and a prince was highly egotistical. He had all the riches, strength, knowledge of a 1,000 men. He could not be defeated in war and had 16000 brides. He thought he was a big shot! Well, he kind of was in one sense wasn’t he?! One day, his father told Prince Krishna to go see his cousin and get his blessings as he was a Tirthankar. Krishna dutifully did as his father instructed. In walking into the room where Arishtanemi was seated he was struck by how old his cousin was. Surely someone that old cannot be a mighty Tirthankar! Arishtanemi immediately saw the enormous ego that Krishna carried in him. He motioned Krishna to come nearer to him and said “Here, make my finger straight” and he stuck out his hand with his index finger slightly bent inward. Krishna thought to himself, “Oh man, if I straighten his finger I will surely break his finger in half! Maybe even his whole hand!”. But he did as he was told. When he gently grabbed the old man’s finger, Arishtanemi lifted Krishna straight up off the ground and left him dangling! Lifted the mighty prince’s whole body with one bent finger. Krishna, being a highly developed soul, immediately grasped the essence of what had just transpired. Against the might of a Tirthankar – against the sheer brilliance of an ABSOLUTELY Pure Soul – one’s supposed strength and worldly ego are nothing. Meaningless and most importantly, completely temporary. His ego dissolved in an instant and he bowed deeply to Arishtanemi and begged Him to give him that which is PERMANENT. The knowledge of the soul. Arishtanemi blessed him with knowledge and experience of the soul. He was then able to see the soul in all living beings from that moment onward. This is what is referred to commonly as “divine vision” and it was this very knowledge and vision that Krishna imparted to Arjun that fateful day in the chariot. Although Arjun killed *hundreds of thousands* of men in the war, this knowledge and vision prevented him from binding karma and in that very life, after the Kurushketra War completed, Arjun transcended to moksha!

    Similarly, Krishna’s day to go to moksha is coming. He has a few karmas still needing to complete. But his day will come soon enough…

    Reply
    1. Srujan Raghavendra Avatar
      Srujan Raghavendra

      Nirav shah i have read the story before. i wish you quoted a purana to back your claim of Sri Arista nemi’s supremacy. On what scripture you claim this. But unfortunately, the world today acknowledges Krishna as the great and not Arista nemi. Let me remind you that Krishna was supposed to have conceded defeat to Jarasandha as well. But that doesn’t make Jarasandha a great warrior than Sri krishna. Let me also tell you that while explaining this to you i mean no disrespect to Arista nemi. Krishna is supreme lord. He in other incarnations has shown to have sought others help to defeat enemies(Ramayan), He has washed feats of his friend sudhama. These incidents don’t mean to project that Krishna is inferior. To say that krishna has ego is childish. I wish you read Bhagavad gita once. I hope that will change your mistaken view toward the supreme lord.

      Reply

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