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Abhaya's Order for Execution by Accusation of Fault
Yogashastra, Second Illumination, Verse 101
I will continue my fast. Seeing Sudarshana standing silent and motionless, the cunning-hearted Abhaya, becoming fearless, frowned and said - "O shameless! Fool! Soulless one! Do you dare to insult me, the respectable one? Remember, women are capable of punishing or rewarding men. Don't you know this? Even after my passionate pleas under the influence of Kamadeva, if you do not come under my control, then without a doubt, I will make you a guest of Yama (the god of death) in no time." As Abhaya became more and more agitated and fierce, the magnanimous Sudarshana became more and more absorbed in the realm of spiritual contemplation. The entire night passed in this manner. Despite being repeatedly astonished, Sudarshana did not waver even a bit from his meditation. Just as the great ocean cannot be disturbed by the beating of a boat's oar, Sudarshana remained unmoved.
Seeing the dawn, Abhaya tore her clothes and started screaming loudly, "Run, run! Save me, this wicked one wants to rape me." Hearing the commotion, the guards rushed to the palace. They saw Sudarshana standing motionless in kayotsarga (a Jain meditation posture). The guards thought, "This is unbelievable. How can this be possible?" They went straight to the king and reported the entire incident. The king came to Abhaya and, seeing her distraught, she said through tears, "O king! I had stayed here on your order. Suddenly, this demon-like person entered my palace and, seeing me, became lustful like a hungry wolf. First, this sinful, lascivious man pleaded with me in sweet words to engage in carnal relations. I told him, 'A chaste woman can never behave like an unchaste one. Can black pepper be chewed like chickpeas?' When I did not submit to him, he tried to rape me, and left me in this terrible state!" Hearing this, the king could not believe that Sudarshana could do such a thing. The king repeatedly asked Sudarshana about the truth of the matter, but the compassionate Sudarshana, out of mercy for the queen, did not respond. Just as sandalwood, even when heavily rubbed, cools the heat of others, Sudarshana remained completely silent. Considering his silence as a sign of being an adulterer, the enraged king ordered his arrest and had his crime announced throughout the city, that Sudarshana is a heinous sinner, and the king has ordered his execution.
The king's command is fulfilled by his words, and the gods' by their minds. As soon as the royal order was given, the king's men seized Sudarshana and made him sit on a donkey. They blackened his face with ink, applied red sandalwood paste on his body, placed a garland of coral flowers on his head, and a necklace of kankola fruits around his neck. Then, beating drums, they paraded Sudarshana through the city, making announcements at crossroads that this sinner had committed a terrible crime in the king's inner chambers, and therefore, he is being executed. The people were shocked to hear this, thinking, "This is simply unbelievable! It seems there is some conspiracy here." But in the face of the king's order, they were helpless. There was an uproar among the people.
When Sudarshana was brought in front of his own house, his chaste wife Manorama was stunned to see the spectacle. She thought, "My husband is a man of virtue, I have seen this many times. The king also loved his conduct. But this dreadful sight makes it seem that fate (destiny) is adverse. Surely, he is reaping the fruits of some inauspicious deeds from a past life. Now, except for praying to the Lord, there is no other remedy." Resolving this in her mind, she went into kayotsarga and became absorbed in devotion to the Jina deities. Finally, she pleaded with the presiding goddess, "Goddess! There is no possibility of any moral flaw in my husband. Therefore, please assist this supreme spiritual aspirant; only then will I complete my fast, otherwise I will continue fasting in this very state."