King Rishabha, who ruled over a large part of the earth, on seeing that his eldest son was capable and mature enough to take over the throne, willingly handed over everything to him and retained possession only of his body, renouncing everything else in what once used to be his house. The sky became his clothing. Outwardly his scattered disheveled hair made him seem deranged. Thus free from all encumbrances, king Rishabhadeva set out to demonstrate to the world the dharma of an avadhuta. The word ‘avadhuta’ literally means ‘one who has shaken off’, signifying the discarding of all that which normally attracts an ordinary, materialistic person. Stepping out of the house, Rishabha took a vow of absolute silence and stopped replying even when spoken to. He became deaf and mute like a stone. He acted as if he was blind who did not know where he was going.
