Rishabhanath

Rule, administration and teachings

Rishabhanatha was born in bhoga-bhumi or the age of omnipresent happiness. It is further suggested that no one had to work because of miraculous wish-fulfilling trees called the kalpavrikshas. It is stated that people approached the king for help due to decreased efficacy of the trees with passage of time. Rishabhanatha is then said to have taught them six main professions. These were: (1) Asi (swordsmanship for protection), (2) Masi (writing skills), (3) Krishi (agriculture), (4) Vidya (knowledge), (5) Vanijya (trade and commerce) and (6) Shilp (crafts). In other words, he is credited with introducing karma-bhumi (the age of action) by founding arts and professions to enable householders to sustain themselves. Rishabhanatha is credited in Jainism to have invented and taught fire, cooking and all the skills needed for human beings to live. In total, Rishabhanatha is said to have taught seventy-two sciences to men and sixty-four to women. The institution of marriage is stated to have come into existence after his marriage to Sunanda marked the precedence. According to Paul Dundas, Rishabhanatha, in Jainism, is thus not merely a spiritual teacher, but the one who founded knowledge in its various forms. He is depicted as a form of culture hero for the current cosmological cycle.