Kulakara in the context of "Shraddhadeva Manu"

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⭐ Core Definition: Kulakara

In Jainism, kulakara (also manu) refers to the wise men who teach people how to perform the laborious activities for survival. According to Jain Cosmology, when the third ara (epoch) of the avasarpani (present descending half-cycle of cosmic age) was nearing its end, felicities due to ten type of Kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling trees) started declining. The number of the sages who thus appeared is said to be fourteen, the last of whom was Nabhirai, the father of the first tirthankara, Rishabhanatha.

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Kulakara in the context of Vaivasvata Manu

Vaivasvata Manu (Sanskrit: वैवस्वत मनु), also referred to as Shraddhadeva and Satyavrata, is the current Manu—the progenitor of the human race. He is the seventh of the 14 Manus of the current kalpa (aeon) of Hindu cosmology. In the Jain religion he is also known as Nabhiraja, the father of Rishabhanatha and the last Kulakara.

He is the son of Vivasvan (also known as Surya), the Sun god, and his wife Saranyu. Forewarned about the divine flood by the Matsya avatara of Vishnu, Manu saved mankind by building a boat that carried his family and the Saptarishi (the Seven Sages) to safety. He was one of the wielders of Asi the primordial sword.

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Kulakara in the context of Nabhi

King Nabhi or Nabhi Rai was the 14th or the last Kulakara of avasarpini (the descending half of the cosmic time cycle in Jainism and the one in which the world is said to be at present). He was the father of Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara (founder of Jainism) of present avasarpini. According to Jain text Ādi purāṇa, Nabhirāja lived for 1 crore purva and his height was 525 dhanusha (long bows).

According to Jain literature, India was known as Nābhivarṣa (land of Nabhi) before being renamed as Bhāratavarṣa after Bharata, the son of Rishabhanatha.

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