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

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gamblers and harlots. This is how he came to know Kāmadhvajā, the famous courtesan.
The king of the town also developed a lot of fancy for the same courtesan. One day he met Ujjhitaka at her place and ordered Kāmadhvajā not to entertain him there at all. However, they continued to meet secretly and when the king discovered this, he arrested Ujjhitaka and punished him the way Gautama had seen.
Gautama spoke of it to his revered master Mahāvira and asked him who this man was and what sort of karman he had perpetrated in his former existence so that he should be subjected to the cruel treatment he had seen in the town.
Mahavira gave the following account of the earlier life of Ujjhitaka:
This was in the city of Hastinapura where king Sunanda ruled. The king had a large number of cattle for which he had built a big enclosure which was properly covered by a roof that rested on hundreds of pillars and was altogether a pleasant place for the cattle. They had plenty of grass and water and no danger of any kind lurked around the enclosure. A man called Bhima was the cattle keeper for the whole enclosure and his wife's name was Utpalā. Bhima was by nature not a considerate man and he took delight in doing improper and evil things. When his wife was pregnant, she felt a very strange pregnancy desire. She wanted to drink a variety of wines prepared from honey, grapes, palm fruit, and white wines. What she particularly longed for was the pieces of grilled meat, fried meat and salted meat to munch with the wine. This meat she felt ought to be from all the cattle of the town. But she also saw how difficult it would be to obtain such pieces of meat and since her longing remained unsatisfied, she became emaciated, devoid of lustre and palefaced. Her eyes no longer resembled lotuses and her face looked withered. She could not any longer enjoy flowers, scents, dresses, garlands and ornaments. Her husband asked her what was worrying her so much as all that. Then she explained to him her pregnancy desire. He assured her that he would certainly see how it could be fulfilled before it was too late. He went alone in the dead of night to the cattle enclosure,