6
Trimantra
Now if I were to explain the meaning of the Navkar
(number 1) mantra to you, you will feel, ‘this is our mantra’.
Once you understand it’s meaning, you will not let go of it. At
the moment all you see is, ‘this is the Shiv mantra’ and ‘this is
the Vaishnav mantra’. You need to understand the meaning of
the mantra. Let me explain you the meaning of the Navkar
mantra, then you will never say so again.
Namo Arihantanam
Questioner : Please explain in detail what ‘Namo
Arihantanam’ means?
Dadashri : ‘Namo Arihantanam’. ‘Ari’ means enemies
and ‘hantanam’ means to conquer. So in this obeisance we are
bowing down to the Arihant Bhagwan, the one who has
conquered all the inner enemies of anger, pride, deceit, greed,
attachment and abhorrence. From the moment of total destruction
of the inner enemies, to the state called keval gnan, until final
liberation, one is an Arihant. Such a one is the absolute manifested
living God. He may have become so from any religious order-
Hindu, Jain or any other race and he may be found anywhere
in the universe. This obeisance says, ‘I bow down to the Arihant
Lord wherever He may be.’
Questioner : Does an Arihant have a physical form?
Dadashri : Yes, he has a physical body. He has a body
and also a name. He cannot be called an Arihant if he does not
have a body.
Questioner : Does the title of Arihant apply to the
twenty-four Tirthankars?
Dadashri : No. Only a Tirthankar who is currently living
can be called an arihant. Lord Mahavir has attained moksha.
People say, “These are our twenty-four Tirthankaras” and then
they recite, “Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam…”, and if