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CHAPTER I ŚRI KUNTHUSVĀMICARITRA
May the teaching of victorious Kunthu Svāmin, which resembles the current of a river for destroying the stones of dense delusion, prevail. I narrate (herewith) the purifying biography of Kunthu, master of the three worlds, which resembles Mt. Manthana in stirring the ocean of worldly existence.
Previous Incarnations (3-13) In this very Jambūdvipa, in the East Videhas, in the fair province Avarta which surpassed heaven in beauty, in the capital, Khadgi, King Sinhāvaha was the receptacle of boundless virtues, the crest of the leaders in justice. He was like a mountain of justice, like an axe to crime, like the family-home of law, like the native land of intelligence. His good counsel, as well as his mind, was difficult for even the experts to penetrate; the excellence of his army and treasure was like that of Sakra; his energy was like that of Hari. He himself, like the ocean, did not cross the boundary of propriety; powerful, he held the world also within the bounds of propriety. The sound of his bow was like a charm for attracting Śrīs; like a charm for destroying enemies; like a charm for protecting the earth. He ruled the earth for justice only, but not for wealth. It is always an attendant result for those devoted to dharma. Experiencing pleasures without devotion to them, like an ascetic consuming food, he, the foremost of those knowing the Principles, passed some time.
One day, feeling extreme disgust with existence, he went to Acārya Samvara, and took initiation, which was like the boundary of the ocean. Observing strict vows,
16. See II, n. 117.
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