Shri Sambhavnath: life and stories
Following the Shwetambar tradition, chiefly Acharya Shri Hemchandracharya's Trishashti Shalaka Purush Charitra. Kalyanak tithis are in Gujarati months.
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In a former life he was King Vipulvahan of Kshemapuri. A terrible famine struck his land and lasted for years. The king opened his granaries and, with deep devotion, saw that the sadhus, sadhvis, shravaks and shravikas of the Sangh did not go hungry, serving them as he would serve his own family.
This sadharmik bhakti, service of the Sangh in its hardest hour, filled his soul with great punya. When rain returned and the land recovered, he gave up the kingdom, took diksha, and through deep aradhana bound the Tirthankar naam karma. He was then born as a dev in the devlok.
On Fagan Sud 8 his soul came into the womb of Queen Sena, wife of King Jitari of Shravasti, and she saw the fourteen great dreams. Thirty lakh crore sagaropam had passed since Ajitnath Bhagwan.
The tradition says that while the Prabhu was in the womb, the land, which had suffered want, gave abundant harvests, as if plenty had become possible again. So the child was named Sambhav. His chinh is the horse.
He was born on Magshar Sud 14, and the Indras celebrated the janmabhishek on Meru. He grew up, married, and ruled Shravasti with justice and care for every subject.
After the Lokantik devs came to request him and a year of varshidaan, he took diksha on Magshar Sud 15, the very next day after his birthday, with a thousand kings.
After years of silent sadhana he attained kevalgyan on Aso Vad 5. The devs built the samavasaran, Charu became the first of his hundred and two ganadhars, and the fourfold sangh was set up.
On Chaitra Sud 5 Sambhavnath Bhagwan attained nirvan on Sammet Shikhar with a thousand munis, on the same tithi as Ajitnath Bhagwan before him.
Sambhavnath's story is told above all for its lesson: serving fellow Jains in hard times, sadharmik bhakti, is among the highest forms of dharma. This is why Sanghs hold sadharmik bhakti, and why the Prabhu's name is remembered in times of want.