Glory of Jainism: Patpade

Patpade

In the history of Rajasthan, there are many examples of illustrious, powerful Jains who had earned reputation as dewan (prime minister of the king) of the state by their integrity, valour and truthfulness. In the company of the Jain dewans, the rulers of Rajasthan also respected the practice of the Jain religion to show mercy and kindness towards the animals they also used to undertake renovation of Jain temples and attend to the religious discourses of the Jain monk. Rana Jagatsinh had banned animal killing in the month of Bhadrapad, i.e. the month covering his birthdate. Rana Kumbha had carried out renovation of a Jain temple and had banned fishing in Pichhola lake and Uday Sagar of Udaipur. During the times of Rajsinh, son of Rana Jagatsinh, Dayalshah was the state dewan. He constructed a temple having nine floors and 52 deris (small temple) at a cost of Rs. 1 crore. But this grand fort-like jinprasad (temple of Jina) was an eye-sore for the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb. His bigotry became all the more pronounced. Suspicious as he was, he thought under the pretext of this jinprasad, some enemy might be constructing a huge fort. By constructing a grand fort, the Rana might be planning to defy him and become independent.

In A.D. 1674, Aurangzeb undertook an invasion with a huge army. Dewan Dindayal led the army on behalf of the Rana. The dewan also explained to the emperor Aurangzeb that the Jain temple had only two floors but as it was having a very high peak, it seemed to him that the temple was unusually high. Because of the tact of dewan Dayalshah the temple could be saved but that episode made Rana very uneasy. He was not in the least prepared to invite the wrath of the emperor. He thought that in his keenness to save the jinprasad, he might have to lose the kingdom. The Rana himself did not grant permission for installing image of a Jina in the temple. Just at that time the Rana was engaged in constructing the wall surrounding the lake Raj Sagar. The lake used to be flooded with monsoon waters and as a result of which it used to overflow and the nearby houses etc. were submerged under the water. Every time, as soon as the new walls surrounding the lake were constructed, water rushed into the lake from somewhere breaking the walls. Dewan Dayalshah’s wife Patpade was extremely religious and chaste. She was extremely happy as the Jain temple was saved but she was greatly unhappy at the fact that the auspicious occasion of the installation of idol in the temple was delayed.

Rana Rajsinh thought that if a religious and pious woman like Patpade would lay the foundation of the construction work of the surrounding walls, it might work. Patpade laid the foundation of the walls and the construction was over within a short time. The subsequent monsoon was very heavy one but the walls of the lake were not damaged. Rana was extremely happy; he was convinced that truly religious person can have a great impact. As the Rana was extremely happy at the event, Patpade requested him to grant them the permission to construct a chaturmukh jinprasad (a Jain temple with fourface Jina) as also to install therein the idol of the god. The Rana could not disregard or reject the feelings of such a religious-minded woman. At last dewan Dayashah and his wife Patpade could witness the most auspicious day of their life. The Jain idols were installed on the seventh day of Vaishakh Sud in V.S. 1675 at the hands of Acharya Vinaysagarsuri.