Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra
by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words
This page describes Parshva’s moksha (emancipation) which is the fifth part of chapter IV of the English translation of the Parshvanatha-caritra, contained within the “Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra”: a massive Jain narrative relgious text composed by Hemacandra in the 12th century. Parshvanatha in jainism is the twenty-third Tirthankara (Jina) and one of the 63 illustrious beings or worthy persons.
Part 5: Pārśva’s mokṣa (emancipation)
Knowing that his emancipation was near, the Lord went to Mt. Sammeta, accompanied by thirty-three munis, and fasted for a month. The Teacher of the World, together with the thirty-three munis, attained the place from which there is no return on the eighth of the white half of Śrāvaṇa, (the moon being) in Viśākhā.
Thirty years as householder, seventy in keeping the vows—so the age of Śrī Pārśva Svāmin was one hundred years. The emancipation of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Pārśvanātha, took place eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and fifty years from the day of Śrī Nemi’s emancipation. The lords of gods, Śakra and the others, came to Mt. Sammeta’s peak, accompanied by the gods. Subject to an excess of grief, they celebrated splendidly the emancipation-festival of the Supreme Lord, Pārśva.
The ones who, believing, bring the biography of Pārśvanātha, purifying the three worlds, within the range of hearing—from them misfortunes go away; and they would be remarkably prosperous, and they go to the final abode. What else?