Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara in Jain cosmology, is said to have divided his kingdom among his many sons before renouncing the world himself. His eldest, Bharata, received the largest portion but was not satisfied, and pressed his brothers one by one to submit to his overlordship as universal emperor, a chakravartin. All complied except Bahubali, who refused to yield territory he held by their father's own gift.
Tradition holds that the two armies, unwilling to see mass slaughter over a family dispute, agreed to settle the conflict through a sequence of single combats between the brothers themselves: a staring contest, a water fight, and finally wrestling. Bahubali won every contest decisively, and in the wrestling match raised his fist to strike the finishing blow against an already defeated Bharata. At that instant, texts recount, Bahubali was struck by the futility of what he was about to do, kingship and victory offering nothing next to the liberation their father had already renounced the world to pursue. He lowered his fist, and rather than claim the throne he had just won outright, renounced it and walked away to take up ascetic life himself, leaving Bharata the empire he had fought so hard to keep.