श्री श्रेयांसनाथ भगवान परिचय
पुष्करार्धद्वीपसम्बन्धी पूर्व विदेह क्षेत्र के सुकच्छ देश में सीता नदी के उत्तर तट पर क्षेमपुर नाम का नगर है। उसमें नलिनप्रभ नाम का राजा राज्य करता था। एक समय सहस्राम्रवन में श्री अनन्त जिनेन्द्र पधारे। उनके धर्मोपदेश से विरक्तमना राजा बहुत से राजाओं के साथ दीक्षित हो गया। ग्यारह अंगों का अध्ययन किया और तीर्थंकर प्रकृति का बंध करके समाधिमरणपूर्वक अच्युत स्वर्ग के पुष्पोत्तर विमान में अच्युत नाम का इन्द्र हुआ।
गर्भ और जन्म
इसी जम्बूद्वीप के भरतक्षेत्र में सिंहपुर नगर का स्वामी इक्ष्वाकुवंश से प्रसिद्ध ‘विष्णु' नाम का राजा राज्य करता था। उसकी वल्लभा का नाम सुनन्दा था। ज्येष्ठ कृष्ण षष्ठी के दिन श्रवण नक्षत्र में उस अच्युतेन्द्र ने माता के गर्भ में प्रवेश किया। सुनन्दा ने नौ मास बिताकर फाल्गुन कृष्ण एकादशी के दिन तीन ज्ञानधारी भगवान को जन्म दिया। इन्द्र ने उसका नाम ‘श्रेयांसनाथ' रखा।
तप
किसी समय बसन्त ऋतु का परिवर्तन देखकर भगवान को वैराग्य हो गया, तदनन्तर देवों द्वारा उठाई जाने योग्य ‘विमलप्रभा' पालकी पर विराजमान होकर मनोहर नामक उद्यान में पहुँचे और फाल्गुन शुक्ल एकादशी के दिन हजार राजाओं के साथ दीक्षित हो गये। दूसरे दिन सिद्धार्थ नगर के नन्द राजा ने भगवान को खीर का आहार दिया।
केवलज्ञान और मोक्ष
छद्मस्थ अवस्था के दो वर्ष बीत जाने पर मनोहर नामक उद्यान में तुंबुरू वृक्ष के नीचे माघ कृष्णा अमावस्या के दिन सायंकाल के समय भगवान को केवलज्ञान प्रगट हो गया। धर्म का उपदेश देते हुए सम्मेदशिखर पर पहुँचकर एक माह तक योग का निरोध करके श्रावण शुक्ला पूर्णिमा के दिन भगवान श्रेयांसनाथ नि:श्रेयसपद को प्राप्त हो गये।
In his earlier incarnation, the being that was to become Lord Shreyansnath purified his soul as king Nalingulm of Kshema town in Pushkarvar island. He performed hard and deep spiritual practices and purified his soul to high extends in his life. Due to this he acquired the Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma and went to the Mahashakra dimension of gods.
From the Mahashakra dimension of gods the being of Lord Shreyansnath descended into the womb of queen Vishnu Devi wife of king Vishnuraja of Simhapur. One morning queen said to king Vishnuraja about the fourteen (sixteen according to the Digambar Jain Sect) auspicious dreams she saw early in the morning. Upon asking about the meaning of these dreams, Kulguru Kaudinya, said that the child which the queen is carrying in her womb would not be an ordinary child but a great person, a pious soul. On the twelfth day of the dark half of the month of Bhadrapad (according to the Hindu Calendar) queen Vishnu Devi gave birth to a son. Entire town filled with the atmosphere of festival, with happiness and celebrations all over. King decided to name his newly born son as Shreyans Kumar.
From his childhood, Shreyans was a very decent child and very simple one. Time went by very soon. Everybody praised the beauty, dutifulness, bravery, courage, administration, and devotion of Shreyans Kumar. Everything was unmatchable. Though he himself was not interested but because of the happiness of his parents he married several times. One day king Vishnuraja thought that his son is so young but still spends lot of time in meditation and spiritual up-liftment, and he is old and still not bothered. It is the time now that he should put responsibilities of the kingdom on the shoulders of his son and go for the upliftment of his soul. He did exactly the same as he thought. Prince Shreyansh was now King Shreyansh Kumar. His ability to rule was popular among the people and neighboring kingdoms.
Years went by when Shreyans kumar one day saw his eldest son Sudharma, and thought the same as his father thought during his time. This was the time when Shreyansh Swami learned everything about his past life and his true purpose of coming to this world. He started donating for about an year. After an year’s donation of wealth he came out of the castle and removed his hair with his fist, removed all the worldly possessions, uttered the words 'Namo Sidhanam' and disappeared in the crowd. Along with him thousands of other men and women, kings and servants did the same. The whole atmosphere was fragrant, musical and magical.
Omniscience and Nirvana
After a long reign Shreyans Kumar became a Shraman and within a short span of two months attained omniscience on the fifteenth day of the dark half of the month of Magh under a mango tree. He got Nirvana at Sammed shikharji on the third day of the dark half of the month of Shravan. It was during his period that the being that was to be Lord Mahaveera reigned as the first Vasudev Triprishtha. After the death of Triprishtha, his brother Baldev Achal became a disciple of Dharmaghosh who was a follower of Shreyansnath. Achal got liberated in this birth.