________________
EIGHTH INCARNATION AS VAJRĀYUDHA
271
said to him, “Why do you fly up and fall like a bird, sir? If it is not a secret, tell me.” The man said: "Even a secret must be told to noble men like you. The telling is a virtue. I am a Vidyadhara. I came in the first place from Mt. Vaitādhya on some business. On the way back, I alighted in this garden. I remained here a moment, looking at its beauty. When, wishing to fly, I recalled the vidyā for going through the air, I forgot one line of the vidyā, just at that time. So I fly up and fall down like a bird whose wing is tied."
The prince said, "If it is proper to recite the vidya before another, recite it, noble sir."
He said, “A vidyā is not recited before ordinary men. It is to be given to noble persons like you, to say nothing of being recited." The Vidyadhara recited the vidyā lacking one line; and the prince, having an understanding in accordance with the line, recited the line. The Vidyādhara, whose power from the vidyā was restored, gave the prince vidyās. The discerning acknowledge favors. Then the Vidyādhara went away and the prince subdued the vidyās properly and became a super-Vidyādhara. The cousin who was angry at Vasantasenā was not able to injure Kanakasakti at all. After he (the cousin) had rejected food, drink, et cetera and had died from shame, he became a god, Himacūla.
Kanakaśakti, accompanied by Vasantasena and Kanakamālā, wandered over the earth like a wind from the power of the vidyā. One day, going wherever he liked, he went to Mt. Himavat and there he saw a flying muni, Vipulamati. He honored him with devotion, him who was the color of beated gold, like the brilliance of penance embodied, emaciated, by whom Love had been conquered. After he had received the blessing “Dharmalabhă," he and the queens listened to a sermon that was rain for the forestfire of existence. Enlightened, Kanakasakti then left both the queens also, as well as the Sri of sovereignty, at home and became a mendicant, noble-minded.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org