Prakrit Proper Names (Agamic Index I) v2.c8.s2.322

v2.c8.s2.322

Mahabbala Previous life of Titthamkara Malli (1). He was son of king Bala (2) and queen Dhāriṇī (23) of the city of Viyasoga. He had five hundred wives with Kamalasirī (1) at their head. He renounced the world along with his friends Ayala (2), Dharaṇa (3), Pūraṇa (1), Vasu (1), Vesa-maṇa (3) and Abhicaṃda (4). They decided to practice penances uniformly. Mahabbala tried to surpass the six fellow-ascetics in this respect by concealing the content of his penance. As a consequence of this type of deceitfulness he earned the strī-nāma-gotra karma¹ along with the tīrthaṅkara-nāma - gotra karma.² This is how Titthamkara Malli was born as a female.³
1. A type of Karma giving rise to femaleness.
2. A type of Karma giving rise to Tirthankara-hood.
5. Jna, 64-5, SthA. p. 401.