Millions of years ago there was a king named Rishabhanath. The strong king who descended from Ikshvaku clan used to rule entire Indian subcontinent. He had 100 sons and one daughter from first wife and one son and one daughter from second wife.
As the king grew old, he wanted to spend his rest of life on spirituality and to attain moksha. He called his sons and distributed his entire kingdom among them. Bharat, the eldest one among 100, was given Ayodhya to rule, in the northern part of India. Bahubali, the only son of second wife, got Poudanapura in southern India.
Rishabhanath went to forest. Bharat and Bahubali started to rule their kingdoms. Bharat was one of the great king. Like his father. Kingdom thrived under his rule. He was strong. He was kind. He was capable. He had all the qualities which were necessary for a ruler.
Time passed. Things were running smooth. One fine day Bharat was informed that his father has attained moksha or Keval Jnana(Only knowledge). He was also called as First Tirthankara. Bharat went to forest along with family and took blessings from him. As he returned, he got to know that a mysterious weapon, a chakra, has appeared in his ordnance. Bharat thought, it is a sign. He had thoughts. Thoughts of becoming Chakravarti - The emperor. Unconquerable. He had the the divine wheel, the chakra with him now.
So, soon he started his military expedition. To all eight directions. Many kings from other kingdoms simply submitted. They don't wanted challenge the might of Bharat. Some fought. But with the help of chakra, Bharat was unstoppable. He defeated all the kings whoever stood his way. Once war is finished and no one was left to challenge him, he sighed with a smile on his face. His dream of becoming Chakravarti is completed.
He heads back to his kingdom. Once he reaches the gate, to his surprise, the chakra did not enter the gate. After enquiring the ministers, he got to know that still he hadn't conquered everyone. There are kings who haven't bowed down yet. None other than his brothers. Bahubali and 99 others. May be this was the moment Bharat would have thought a bit. Is it really necessary to wage a war against his own brothers? After all they share his blood. And even if he wins, is it worth? But Bharat was thinking of only one thing. To become the emperor. Of all.
He immediately sends a message to all of them. To either submit to him and accept him as their king or to fight. The 99 brothers left all their land to Bharat and they went to forest. They wanted to follow their father's path. Bahubali is the only one who refused to accept him as his king and was ready for the war.
Bahubali, as name suggests, had long and strong arms. He was taller than Bharat. And younger than him. His argument was simple. Father has distributed his land among them and they have their ownership on the land. There was no question of surrendering it to someone. The war was inevitable.
The large armies of both brothers confronted in the battlefield. The man preached non violence to the world and his two sons were about to start a war. Irony. But ministers from both sides were intelligent. They discussed among themselves and came up with a plan. They decided that there will not be any blood. Good. And battle will happen between only Bharat and Bahubali and not between their armies. Much better. And battle between both of them will be non weaponized one. Probably the first of its kind. Otherwise who else will agree for this kind of war? Both of the brothers were gentlemen, wise and lived their life by values. They agreed to fight as suggested by ministers. May be this is the most peaceful war ever happened.
There were three rounds. First was dristi yuddha where they have to stare at each other without blinking the eye. Whoever blinks eye first, loses. Second was jala yuddha - Splashing water at each other and one who withstands it without turning his face wins. Bahubali was able to win in these two rounds easily. He was more focused and stronger than Bharat. On the other hand, Bharat never expected it. Already he was sensing defeat. Final round was malla yuddha, wrestling. Both brothers were strong, trained and capable. Heavy fight broke between them. But eventually Bahubali got the upper hand. He got a certain moment and making full use of it, he lifted Bharat with his hands. He lifted him with both of his hands, stood up and about to smash him down. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. "What am I doing?? I can't believe myself. For a piece of land I was about to kill my brother?" He lost his clarity. His mind got clouded.
He slowly lifted down his brother. He was disturbed. On the other hand, Bharat was unable to digest his defeat. There was an embarrassment. Humiliation. He never expected it. With the corrupted mind he ordered the chakra against Bahubali. Ministers were speechless. Course of war was not happening as agreed. But chakra simply circled around Bahubali thrice and stood beside him. The final blow on the ego of Bharat. He stood there with his head down, in shame.
Bahubali was still thinking, being irresponsive to the things happening around him. He was unable to believe that he fought his own brother for a piece of land. He was disgusted for his own act. He realized the consequences of putting greed and pride over brotherhood. That was it. On that moment he vowed detachment towards all worldly, materialistic possessions. He let go of his kingdom, wealth, family. He even let go his clothes. He walked towards forest fully naked. What a gut he had! Only a strong man can make strong decision. Bahubali was on his way towards purification of his soul.
He went to the forest and just stood there. With his eyes closed. Didn't have food, water, sleep. Just stood there, meditating. Creepers grew along his legs and arms. Anthills formed around his legs. Unaware of all these things, he was totally involved in soul-search. His face was calm. But one can sense that he hasn't attained liberation. After meditating for a year, he was almost there but, he still had a guilt of two things. One, he wasn't sure whether his brother has forgiven him. Two, the land he was standing belonged to Bharat!
Bharat got to knew about this. He immediately reached forest. Stood in front of Bahubali and told him that he has completely forgiven him and also he, as well, wanted a forgiveness. And told him that land neither belonged to him nor Bahubali. Every living creature has its right on the land. Listening this, Bahubali had a relief. And his facial expressions changed to a calming smile. Finally he attained Keval Jnana, Omniscience.
This is the story. The story of Bahubali and his supreme sacrifice. The king who was supposed to be the emperor of world. The one who won a physical war first. Then spiritual war. Some might argue that this story is a myth or fictional, never happened. It really doesn't matter. It's the message that counts, not authenticity. As long as we have a message from any story, we can safely assume that it's worth a read.
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