The twelve Cakravartins
Emperors of all six khaṇḍas of Bharat, the strongest mortals in the reckoning — and the only class whose destination is not fixed by the role.
A Cakravartin conquers all six khaṇḍas of Bharat and holds 32,000 crowned kings. He carries fourteen ratnas, seven living and seven not — senāpati, gṛhapati, sthapati, purohita, elephant, horse and queen; cakra, parasol, sword, staff, kākiṇī, cūḍāmaṇi and the hide that carries an army over water — and nine nidhis, the inexhaustible treasures.
By the ladder of strength he is the strongest mortal there is: two Vāsudevas, four Baladevas. And it buys him nothing by itself.
The twelve do not share a fate, and that is the point. Ṛṣabha's son Bharata, the first, attained omniscience and was liberated. Brahmadatta, the last, went to the seventh hell for thirty-three sāgaropama. Three — Śānti, Kunthu and Ara — renounced and became Tīrthaṅkaras. The hinge is renunciation, not power.
Sanatkumāra's end is given differently by different traditions: liberated in one account, reborn in the Sanatkumāra heaven in others. For six of the twelve this atlas has found no fate recorded at all, and leaves those blank rather than filling them.
Measurements and counts
| Count | 12 |
|---|---|
| Rules | 6 khaṇḍas — all of Bharat |
| Crowned kings | 32,000 |
| Ratnas | 14 — 7 living, 7 not |
| Nidhis | 9 |
| Strength | 4 Baladevas |
| First | Bharata — liberated |
| Last | Brahmadatta — the seventh hell |
| Became Tīrthaṅkaras | Śānti, Kunthu, Ara |
| Fate recorded for | 6 of 12 |