Treasury of Jain Tales

SR No.: 006762
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
Publication Year: 1994
Total Pages: 468
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 17 MB

Page 194

139
On the fifth day after the arrival in the city, the king went back to the mountain where Kanakamālā lived. After a few days of living with her, he came back to his city and again went back to the mountain. Because of this, his people gave him the name ‘Naggai'.
Once when Naggai had been to the mountain to be with Kanakamälá, her father god Vänavyantara told the king that he had been ordered by his master to come away from the worldly residence where he had spent much time and that he must go. It would probably be long before he came back and that he was worried that his daughter would feel very lonely without him. Therefore the father requested the king that he must do something so that she did not feel lonesome. The king then thought of various plans but that the one that appealed to him most was to build a charming city on that mountain so that with people around her, Kanakamālā would not feel lonesome. He persuaded many of his own subjects to shift to the new township. He constructed temples of the Jinas and celebrated great festivals with relio processions. This way he ruled for many years with justice.
One day he went to visit a certain place with his people and on his way he saw a lovely mango tree looking splendid with its newly blossom. The king plucked a cluster of blossom from the tree. The people that followed him, including the army personnel also plucked several such clusters from its branches. As a result the tree was left merely a skeleton of bare sticks. On his return journey, the king very much wanted to see the same mango tree and when he could not notice it, he asked where the tree had disappeared. The minister of state explained to him that after he plucked one small cluster of blossoms, others also did the same and as a result, the tree presented a terribly bare look. Upon this the king reflected: "Surely, as long as there is wealth there is splendour; but all wealth is unstable." This observation awakened in him a spiritual experience and he became an enlightened human being and perceived the Truth.