In
Hinduism, Rishabha is one of the twenty four
avatars of
Vishnu in the
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
.
Some scholars state that this avatar is same as the first
Tirthankara of Jainism.
[ Shaiva texts like Linga Purana appropriated Tirthankar Rishabhdeva as an avatar of lord Shiva because
his sign is bull and his nirvan place is mountain Ashtapad and the 1008 names of lord Shivas are same as Rishabhdeva . Rishabha is also found in Vedic literature, where it means the "bull" and is an epithet for Rudra (Shiva).]John E. Cort
John E. Cort (born 1953) is an American indologist. He is a professor of Asian and Comparative Religions at Denison University, where he is also Chair of the Department of Religion. He has studied Jainism and the history of Jain society over fo ...
and other scholars, there is a considerable overlap between Jain and Hindu Vaishnava traditions in western parts of India, with Hindus adopting Jain sacred figures in Hindu texts like Rishabha and his son Bharata.
In Jainism it is believed that Lord Rishabhadev is King Ikshvaku, the progenitor of the Suryavaṃśa .
Vedic Literature
The Vedas mention the name Rishabha. However, the context in the Rigveda, Atharvaveda
The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...
and the Upanishads suggests that it means the bull, sometimes "any male animal" or "most excellent of any kind", or "a kind of medicinal plant".Rishabha
Monier Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary and Etymology, Oxford University Press, page 226, 3rd column
According to
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a professor of comparative religions and philosophy at Oxford who later became the second
President of India, there is evidence to show that Rishabha was being worshipped by the first century BCE. The ''
Yajurveda'', states Radhakrishnan, mentions the name of three Tirthankaras – Rishabha,
Ajitanatha and
Arishtanemi, and that "the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa endorses the view that Rishabha was the founder of Jainism". It is an epithet for the bull in the Rigveda:
Translation:
Other examples of Rishabha appearing in the Vedic literature include verses 6.16.47 of Rigveda, 9.4.14–15 of Atharvaveda, 3.7.5.13 and 4.7.10.1 of Taittiriya Brahmana, etc.
See also
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Bharata Chakravartin
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Avatars of Vishnu
Rishis
Jainism and other religions
Hinduism and other religions
Solar dynasty