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The Story of Chulani Pita
From the Yogashastra, Third Illumination, Verse 86:
18. Except for tamarind and kokum, the renunciation of all other sour substances.
19. Except for rainwater, the renunciation of all other drinking water.
20. The renunciation of all mouth fresheners, except for the five types of aromatic substances used in paan.
After this, he renounced the five types of harmful activities: Arta-dhyana (sorrowful contemplation), Raudra-dhyana (wrathful contemplation), providing instruments for violence, indulgence in carelessness, and teaching or encouraging sinful deeds. He also accepted the four disciplinary vows. In this way, he properly and completely adopted the layman's vows, free from all transgressions, along with right faith, from Bhagavan Mahavira. After paying obeisance to the Bhagavan, he returned to his home. There, he also informed his religious wife about the layman's vows he had accepted. Desiring to adopt those layman's vows, his wife Shyama sought permission from her husband Chulani Pita. Obtaining her husband's permission, she immediately went to the religious chariot and, after paying reverence to the Lord, also accepted the vows of the layman's dharma.
After she left, Ganadhara Gautama Swami respectfully asked Bhagavan Mahavira, "Lord, will this Chulani Pita accept the ascetic dharma?" Bhagavan replied, "He will not accept the ascetic dharma. But, remaining devoted to the layman's dharma, upon the completion of his lifespan, he will die and be born in the Saudharma celestial realm. There, he will become a deity with a lifespan of four palya-prama. And from there, after falling, he will attain a human birth in the Mahavideha region and achieve the state of nirvana."
Towards the end of his life, Chulani Pita handed over the responsibility of his home and family to his eldest son and, renouncing everything, became absorbed in spiritual contemplation. Once, while observing the Poshada vow in the Poshada hall, a deceitful, false-believing deity came to him at night, with the intention of testing him. Assuming a terrifying form and holding a naked sword in his hand, the deity began to roar in a frightening voice, "O inauspicious beggar of a layman! What kind of pretense of religion have you kept up? I command you to abandon this hypocrisy of the layman's vows! If you do not give up this, I will cut your eldest son's head into pieces like a pumpkin with this sword. And right before your eyes, I will fry the pieces of his flesh in boiling oil and skewer them on a spit, and then I will drink his blood."
Even after hearing this terrifying challenge from the deity, Chulani Pita remained unmoved, just as a lion is not shaken by the rumbling and roaring of clouds. Seeing Chulani Pita's unwavering state, the cruel-souled deity repeatedly tried to frighten him by making terrifying gestures, but Chulani Pita did not even look at the deity, as if he were not even noticing a barking dog. Then, the merciless, cruel-hearted deity, in a contrived manner, slaughtered Chulani Pita's eldest son like an animal with the sword, and then cut him into pieces and threw them into a boiling oil pan. He also started roasting some of the pieces on a griddle. When they were cooked, he skewered them on sharp spits and began to eat them. The wise Chulani Pita endured all this torment with equanimity. Indeed, the souls rich in the sense of otherness do not feel the slightest pain even when their own limbs are cut off.
Seeing that Chulani Pita was not disturbed at all by his attempts, the deity tried another ploy. Threatening him, the deity said, "Look! If you still do not give up this hypocrisy of the vow, then I will also destroy your middle son in the same way as your eldest." Saying this, he slaughtered the middle son as well, and repeatedly laughed cruelly in front of Chulani Pita. But even this did not agitate Chulani Pita. Then, grinding his teeth, the deity repeated his words and also killed Chulani Pita's youngest son. Yet, seeing Chulani Pita's unwavering state, the deity's anger doubled. Challenging him again, the deity said, "O hypocrite of religion! If you still do not give up your hypocrisy, then see! I will do the same to your mother Bhadra as well." Then, he created an exact replica of Chulani Pita's mother, Bhadra, depicting her as afflicted, wretched, and tear-stained, like a pitiful doe, and said, "Give up this vow! This vow has brought the death warrant for your family!"