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CHAPTER I PREVIOUS INCARNATION AS VIMALAVĀHANA
Glory to Ajitanātha's lotus-foot nails, whose beauty surpasses that of the ruby, which serve as mirrors for the faces of the bowing Indras. Now I shall celebrate Ajita Svāmin's life which resembles a snake-charmer's charm for destroying the brood of serpents of karma.
Description of the province Vatsa (3-13) Situated in the middle part of Jambūdvipa, like the navel of the continents, is Videhakşetra provided with sorrow-bliss. In it, on the north bank of the river Sītā there is a province named Vatsa possessing extensive wealth. Endowed with wonderful beauty, it looked like a piece of heaven that had fallen to earth. With villages upon villages and cities upon cities populating it, there was empty space only in the sky, if at all. There was a distinction between cities and villages if made by the king's authority, but they could not be distinguished from each other on the basis of wealth.
At every step there were large tanks with clear, sweet water, just as if filled by canals coming out of the Ocean of Milk. Here and there were large, clear pools whose centers, like the minds of the noble, could not be reached. At every step gardens with abundant green creepers gave the impression of variegated body-decoration of the earth-goddess. In every village there were sugarcane plantations which relieved the thirst of travelers, gleaming with large sugar-canes that resembled pitchers
13. Videhakşetra does not have the six divisions of time (see I, pp. 93 ff), but it is always duhsamasusamā there. Tattvārthādhigamasütra, com. to 4. 15.
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