Sarnath is located 13 kilometers north-east of Varanasi. We booked an auto for Rs. 300 to go to Sarnath as well as Ramnagar fort. Sarnath (also Mrigadava, Migadaya, Rishipattana, Isipatana) is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna.
We went to Sri Digambar Jain Temple dedicated to the 11th Jain Tirthankar-Lord Shreyans Nath.
There was a board in the temple with the title 11th Jain Tirthankar-Lord Shreyans Nath – An Introduction. Here are the details from the board:
Jainism is an eternal religion, propagated by 24 Tirthankaras in every cycle of time. Lord Shreyans Nath, the 11th in the series of 24 Tirthankaras of present age, had taken birth, thousands of years ago, on this very holy place of land Sinhpur (modern Sarnath) in the grand palace of King Vishnu and Queen Nanda.
The word “Shreya” means welfare and likewise king Shreyans stood for the welfare of entire humanity. With the passage of time King Shreyans got fed up with the worldly passions and prosperity and adopted the path of self control and perfect penance As Digambar Jain monk for the sake of ultimate and real happiness in life. After years of meditation he attained the stage of perfect knowledge known as Kevalgyan. He then delivered preaching mainly as the following:
- Ahimsa by thoughts and words is more important than Ahimsa by deeds only, and hence we should not even think of hurting any living being as per Jaina Achar Sanhita.
- Man himself is the architect of his fortune. The purpose of meditation in Jainism is not merely to please the god, but to follow the path shown by him is more important because God is above any fear, favour and fluctuations in our life. This is known as Akartavad in Jainism.
- Betterment of soul is more important than betterment of the body. This is best illustrated by the lifestyle of completely non-possessive Digambar (skylad) Jain monks called Shramans.
- The ultimate truth is multidimensional and therefore our attitude towards other’s views should be accommodating instead of contradicting each other. This is known as Anekantvad in Jain philosophy.
Statue of Bhagwan Shreyans Nath, 11th Tirthankara of Jain religion:
Just opposite to the temple was a huge statue of Lord Buddha in black stone:
Then, we went to see the Sri Lankan temple run by Maha Bodhi Society. The Maha Bodhi Society is a South Asian Buddhist society founded by the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala. Statue of Anagarika Dharmapala:
Statues inside the temple: