Jaipur celebrates Garbh Kalyanak of Jain Tirthankar Padam Prabhu

03 February, 2013

The Garbh Kalyanak festival of the 6th Tirthankar of the Jains, Padam Prabhu ji, was celebrated in various Diganbar jain temples of Jaipur on Friday with devotion and religious fervour. It is considered auspicious to remember the Tirthankar, his teachings and worship him on this day without asking for any favour or material benefits.

The Garbh Kalyanak of Padma Prabhuji is celebrated on the sixth day of Magh Krishna Paksh according to Jain calendar. He was born to Maharaja Dharan and Susima Devi at Koshambi to renounce the worldly life and attained enlightenment. He is associated with red colour and lotus as symbols representing him.

Jain Tirthankars are also called Arihantas, meaning the destroyers of the inner enemies of the soul, namely, anger, ego, greed, and deceit. It is believed in Jainism that the soul can only reach the state of Arihanta by overcoming all its inner enemies. Thus, an Arihant or Tirthankar is the one who has attained the perfect knowledge, vision, power, and bliss.

In the life of a Tirthankar, the five Kalyanaks are celebrated as follows: Garbh Kalyanak; Janam Kalyanak; Tap Kalyana; Keval Gyaan Kalyanak and Nirvaan Kalyanak. The followers are reminded on these days that the right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge (samyak jnana), and right conduct (samyak charitra) free the soul from the bondage of karma.

According to Jainism, every soul, due to its ignorance, is fettered by karma or past good or bad deeds done by the individual. Under the influence of karma, the soul tends to seek pleasures in materialistic belongings and possessions resulting in the self-centered violent thoughts, deeds, anger, hatred, greed, and other such vices called bondages. The purpose of human is life to attain liberation from the karmic bondages called Nirvana.

Among the Jains, every festival is celebrated devotionally with some special rites of worship, rules and principles.