Studies in Jain Literature

SR No.: 001868
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 114
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Literature, & Story
File Size: 14 MB

Page 445

MALLIKAMAKARANDA 427 goes away. Being oppressed by the scorching heat of the sun, Makaranda takes a walk along the bank of the pleasure lake in the garden. After a while he comes across the camp of Citrangada. He therefore goes in another direction. He chances to see a secluded mansion. As soon as he enters, he hears a voice advising him not to enter the mansion which is the abode of great sins. Makaranda then notices a parrot, kept in a cage in the courtyard, talking in human voice. Makaranda desires to know the parrot's account. The parrot then narrates his account thus : There was a sea-trader, Vaisravana by name and a resident of Vaibhalanagara. He had a wife called Manorama. Once both of them got into a ship filled with precious goods of various kinds. On their way they got down to observe the beautiful trees in the forest. In the course of their wanderings they came across a middle-aged (lit. aged) lady. She welcomed them both to her own mansion. They stayed there for quite a few days. Once while Vaisravana was seated on a couch in a room on the top of the mansion, which was all bathed in moonlight, Candralekha, overcome by passion, invited him for amorous dalliance with her. He being a devout Jain and being devoted to abstinence from sexual intercourse with another's wife rejected her invitation. This infuriated her. Using magical power she transformed him into a parrot and kept him imprisoned in a cage. That Vaisravana is my own self; Candralekha made Manorama, my wife, work as a female servant with her own daughter Mallika, who was transformed into a male (Tapasakumara). Candralekha herself, with her retinue, now resides in the hermitage of Gandhamusika, who had come there from Vaibhala-nagara. Makaranda asks the parrot whether there is some way to get out of the wretched condition. He informs him that the touch of a human hand would restore him to his original form. Makaranda pulls him out of the cage and he is restored to his original form. Makaranda asks him to go to the siddhayatana for his own safety and that there is every chance of his meeting his wife Manorama there. The parrot (of course, now Vaisravana) leaves for the siddhayatana. Makaranda then overhears a conversation from behind-the-scenes. It is a conversation between Citrangada and Kapinjala. As directed by his master Citrangada, Kapinjala carries with him pomogranate and other fruits for the parrot. Kapinjala tells him that Mallika is deadly hostile to him. Makaranda wishes to retire to the siddhayatana. Kapinjala reports to his master that the parrot is no longer to be found in the cage Citrangada is taken aback at this for he does not know how to face Candralekha when the parrot has escaped from the custody. Just then Makaranda comes face to face with Citrangada. Kapinjala tells his master that it is Makaranda who is an obstacle in his path of love (to Mallika).