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AIMUTTĀ MUNI
24 Aimuttä Muni
Once upon a time in the streets of Polaspur, India, a six-year-old child named Aimuttä was playing with his friends. He was the son of King Vijay and Queen Shrimati. While playing he saw a monk. The monk's name was Gautam-swämi, the chief disciple of Lord Mahävir. He was barefoot and bald. He was going from one house to another to get alms (food). Aimuttä ran to him and invited him to his palace to get food saying this would make his mother and him very happy. Gautam-swämi agreed and they went to the palace. Aimutta's mother, Queen Shrimati, was standing in the balcony overlooking the garden. She saw Gautam-swämi and Aimuttä coming towards the palace. She was very happy and came down to receive Gautam-swämi. She welcomed him with devotion and said, "Matthaena Vandämi (my salutation to you)." She asked Aimuttä to go and get his favorite food to offer Gautam-swämi. Aimuttä brought ladoos (sweets) and started putting them in the container even though Gautam-swami said he didn't need that many. Aimutta was very happy to be offering food to the monk.
As Gautam-swämi started to leave, Aimuttä said, "Your bag is heavy; please let me carry it for you."
Gautam-swämi said, "Aimuttä, I cannot give it to you because it can only be carried by those who have taken Dikshä and have become a monk."
Aimuttä asked, "What is Diksha?”
Gautam-swämi explained to him that when someone takes a vow of Dikshä he renounces the worldly life, his house, his family, and all other social and economic ties. Then he becomes a monk. People take Dikshä to avoid the accumulation of bad Karma and to attain liberation. In normal everyday living, people are involved in various activities, which cause them to accumulate Karmas. On the other hand, monks and nuns avoid all the activities of householders in order to avoid accumulating these Karmas.
Aimuttä became curious and asked, "Gurudev, you do not commit sins! However, don't you need to eat? Don't you need a place to live? All these activities cause sins which acquire bad Karmas."
Gautam-swämi was pleased with the child's interest to learn more. So he explained, “We take food but we do not accept food which is made specially for us. We stay in a place but we do not own it, and we do not stay there for more than a few days at a time. We do not keep money, and we do not take part in any business or any organization. Thus, as a monk, we do not do any activity that causes sins.
Aimuttä said, “In that case, Gurudev, I want to take Dikshä."
Aimutta and Gautam-swami walked to the place where Lord Mahävir was giving a sermon. Aimuttä joined the others to listen to his teachings. In that sermon, Aimuttä learned what life is all about and what one can do if he or she wants to eliminate worldly suffering. Aimutta expressed his desire to become a monk to Lord Mahävir. Lord Mahävir said, "We cannot give you Dikshä without your parents' permission." Aimuttä replied, "That is easy. I will go home, get their permission and come back."
Aimuttä went home. He told his mother, "Mother, I want to take Dikshä. Remember you used to say that our household life is full of violence and causes sins? Gautam-swämi and Lord Mahävir also said the
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STORIES DURING BHAGAWAN MAHAVIR'S LIFE
same. I want to be free of sins. Therefore, please give me permission to take Dikshä."
Aimuttä's mother was surprised by his words. She was happy in her mind for his fear of sins and his desire to take Dikshä because she was a religious woman. However, she wanted to be sure that Aimuttä understood what "taking Dikshä" meant. So she said, "My son, to take Dikshä is a very hard and disciplined life. You will not have a mother or a father to take care of you. How will you be able to handle such suffering?"
Aimuttä said, "Mother, this household life also has a lot of suffering. At least we know that as a monk the suffering will help destroy Karmas and will lead to liberation."
His mother was very happy to hear this. However, she wanted to test Aimuttä's determination further. She said, "Son, why are you in such a hurry? Wait for a while. You need to take care of us when we get old, and you will have your own family too."
Aimuttä said, "Mother, I learned from Lord Mahävir that no one is young or old. I also learned that no one knows what is going to happen tomorrow. No one knows who will die first or last. So why wait and miss the opportunity which is available to me today?"
His mother was very happy that her son fully understood what Dikshä meant and what his desire was.
She said, "Congratulations, my son. I am very proud of you. You will be a good monk. Do not forget that your goal is to attain liberation and be sure to observe ahimsa (non-violence) throughout your life. I give you permission to take Diksha,"
Aimuttä said, "Thank you, Mother. I will remember your advice."
Aimuttä's mother blessed him and wished him success in his new life. She also helped him get permission from his father, King Vijay.
A few days later he took Dikshä and became a monk called "Bälmuni (young monk) Aimuttä."
One day Bälmuni Aimuttä saw some children playing with a paper boat in a water puddle. He became excited about playing and forgot that as a monk he could not play with water. He ran towards the children and asked if he could play with them. The children became excited that a monk wanted to play with them. He took the lid off his container and started playing with it as if it were a boat. He said, "Look, my boat is also sailing." Meanwhile, other monks came there and saw him playing with water. They said, “Bälmuni, what are you doing? Did you forget that as a monk you should not play with water? Playing with water causes harm to many living beings that live in the water. As monks, we have taken a vow not to hurt any living being. You have violated your vow and have accumulated some bad Karmas."
Bälmuni Aimuttä realized his mistake. He immediately started repenting, "Oh! What have I done? I promised my mother that I would not do any sinful activity. These monks were kind enough to remind me of my mistake! What would have happened if these monks had not seen me?" He was truly regretful for what he had done. He left with the other monks. Monks have to recite the Iriyavahiyam Sutra after returning to their place from outside. Therefore, Bälmuni also recited this sutra. When he came to the part:
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Pänakkamne, Beeyakkamne, Hariyakkamane, Osäuttinga Panag-Daga-Matti ...
If I have hurt any living beings of water, green grass, and clay, I am asking for forgiveness ...
AIMUTTA MUNI
Bälmuni Aimuttä plying in water
His repentance had no bounds. He was extremely sorry for what he had done. He began thinking, "What did I do? I have hurt so many living beings just for fun. How can I be free of these sins? How will I face Lord Mahävir? Oh living beings, I have caused harm to you. Please forgive me for my sins. I will never commit these sins again." Because of his sincere repentance, all of his bad Karmas were destroyed and he attained omniscience or Keval-jnän (infinite knowledge). Now he became a Kevali monk.
After this, Kevali Aimuttä Muni went to Lord Mahävir's assembly and started walking towards the place where other Kevali monks sit. Some senior monks noticed this and told him, "Oh, Aimuttä!! Where are you going? That is the place for Kevali monks to sit. Go over there, where the other monks are sitting."
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________________ STORIES DURING BHAGAWAN MAHAVIR'S LIFE Lord Mahavir interrupted them and said, "Monks, you should not disrespect a Kevali monk. Aimutta Muni is no ordinary monk now. While reciting Iriyavahiyam Sutra, he destroyed all of his destructive (Ghati) Karmas and became a Kevali." The monks realized their mistakes, bowed down to him and thought, "There is no age barrier to be an omniscient or Kevali." At the end of his life, Balmuni Aimutta attained liberation. The pursuit and understanding of Jainism has no age limit but is rather driven by one's own true faith, understanding, and the passion to learn and practice the principles of Jainism. All of us make mistakes, which cause bad karma. Mistakes can be intentional or unintentional. It is possible that Karma resulting from unintentional mistake can be eliminated by true and sincere repentance. However, one should not intentionally make a mistake knowing that they plan to repent for it later. Such repentance will be in vain since it is not true or sincere. 100 Jain STORY BOOK