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The Seventy-First Chapter
397
Her father had passed away after her birth, and her mother too had departed. Her maternal grandmother raised her, but she was surrounded by all kinds of inauspiciousness.
328
One day, she was sitting by the riverbank, when she saw the Samadhi-gupta Muni, who was in a state of Samadhi, in the form of a statue.
329
She had previously slandered the Muni in the form of Lakshmi-mati. She was fortunate that the time was auspicious for her, and she was able to attain peace. She spent the whole night near the Muni's body, driving away mosquitoes and other insects.
330
When the Muni emerged from his Samadhi in the morning, she approached his lotus feet and listened to his Dharma-deshana.
331
Inspired by the Dharma-deshana, she vowed to observe a fast on the Parva day. The next day, she was going to worship the Jina, when she saw an Aryika.
332
She went with the Aryika to another village, where she received food. She continued to live in a cave on a mountain, sustaining herself on the food brought from the village, and protecting her conduct from the fear of sin.
333
One day, a Shravaka came to the Aryika. The Aryika said, "It is amazing that Pootika, born into a low family, still observes such good conduct." The Shravaka was very curious to hear this.
334
After Pootika had finished her worship, the Shravaka approached her and praised her. Pootika replied, "Mother, I am a great sinner. Why do you call me virtuous?" She then recounted the stories of her past lives that she had heard from Samadhi-gupta Muni.
335
The Shravaka was Pootika's friend from a past life. Hearing this, she said, "This being attains the Jain path and Jain Dharma out of fear of sin. In this world, who does not suffer from ugliness, sickness, bad smell, and poverty, due to the ripening of past sins? All suffer from these things. So do not grieve. The vows, conduct, and fasts that you have observed are like a rare treasure for your future births. Do not fear."
338
The Shravaka encouraged her greatly. After that, she attained Samadhi-death and became the beloved of Achyuta-indra. She enjoyed uninterrupted happiness for fifty-five Palyas.
340
From there, she was reborn as Rukmini, the daughter of King Vasava and Queen Shrimati, in the city of Kundala, in the Vidarbha region.
325-341