Dr. Kumarpal Desai
'SHRI ASHTAPAD MAHA TIRTH' is a unique volume of its kind. It is not a work, but a volume which shows the methodology of research.
It provides exhaustive information about the 'Ashtapad Maha Tilth' where the First Tirthankar of the Jain Religion, Shree Rushabhdev Bhagwan, attained NIRVANA. In India, there are five prominent places of Jain pilgrimages. We find only four: Sametshikhar, Abu, Girnar and Shatrunjay, but we have not been able to find the fifth one called the Ashtapad "Tilth.
According to the ancient scripture, the son of Bhagwan Rushabhdev, Chakravarti Bharat, had built a palace adorned with gems on the Ashtapad mountain situated on the beautiful and serene region of the Himalayas. If one were to reach there, one had to climb eight steps and hence it was named Ashtapad.
A decade ago, attempts were made to collect detils about Ashtapad from a variety of sources including religious books. While the information about the Ashtapad was being collected, references were found in the ancient Jain Aagams and in 'Avashyak Niyurkti', 'Kalpasutra', 'Nishithchumi', 'Shree Ashtapada Maha Tlrthkalp', Trishshti Shalaka Purush charit', 'Vasudev Hindi'. 'Abhidhan Chintamani'. A couple of other references, notes and descriptions were also stumbled upon. We also came across references about the glorious stories related to this Maha Tirth. References about this Maha Tilth were also found in the religious books of Hinduism. Moreover, the most important information that was found was from the religious books written in the Tibetan language. In order to dig out more information, Dr Thomas Parmar went to Dharmashala and studied the Tibetan Literature there.
The Yogis residing in Himalayas and the various places of pilgrimages also provided useful information. In some of the manuscripts, one found descriptions about the Tilth and Dr. Rajnikant Shah was of great help in guiding the research project.
The present volume incorporates details about crystal and gemstones used in creating this tirth.
When the Ashtapad project was undertaken, in the initial stage a lot of valuable information about the tirth was provided by Babubhai Kadiwala. Then Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir of Koba provided useful details. Pramesh Gandhi, Bharat Hansraj Shah, Dr. Lata Bothra and others also extended their helping hand. The volumes were displayed wherever the sacred idols of Ashtapad were exhibited and Jains and non-Jains evinced keen interest in the project. The volumes were released in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Los Angles and New York. Twenty such volumes are ready. Dr. Rajnikant Shah thought of culling some very important information and details from these volumes and preparing a new volume and it has now seen the light of the day.
It is a Herculean task to collect information from ancient volumes and through satellite about the lost Tirth. In order to accomplish this task, the editor had to refer to not only the Jain and Hindu scriptures but also to volumes written in the old Tibetan script. Tours to the Himalaya regions were arranged for scientists, scholars and geologists. Efforts were also made to collect archaeological and climatic evidence and through satellite useful data was obtained, which indeed is a rare thing. The Ashtapad research project helped to unearth information about the earliest human civilisation and also about Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar. Second part of this volume will incorporates all these details and it will be a guide to scientific research into a very ancient subject.
Dr. Rajnikant Shah is neither a historian nor a researcher nor a scholar, but the volume shows what an individual can achieve if he is passionate about what one does. He has been working for the last 10 years and at last his painstaking research has resulted into a very exclusive volume.
The Asthapad Maha Tirth Ratna Mandir in New York will inspire future researchers to undertake researches into Jainology, and the crystal and gem stones will enkindle devotion in them. It is also hoped that the stories about Ashtapad carved from gem stones will help the next generation to imbibe the Jain culture.
The search for Ashtapad Tirth is still on and how long it will be on, one does not know. The present volume, which is a gold mine of information and the Ashtapad Ratna Mandir in New York, is with us today and I express my feeling of joy for the same.
