________________
33. THE STORY OF BAHASPATIDATTA
(BRHASPATIDATTA)
Once in the city of Kausāmbi Gautama saw a man being tortured to death and he wondered what sort of evil he had committed in his earlier life to deserve such terrible punishment. Mahavira explained it in the following story:
In the town called Sarvatobhadra where king Jitasatru ruled, there lived a priest Mahesvaradatta. He was a great scholar and was very proficient in Vedic lore. Every time the king went out on a military expedition, the priest performed a sacrifice to ensure the safety and victory of the king. Every morning, the priest captured one boy of the Brahmin class, one boy of the warrior, one boy of the merchant class and one boy of the sūdra class. He cut off their hearts and offered them as sacrifice. On the subsequent eighth and fourteenth day of the king's expedition, he sacrificed the hearts of two boys from each class. During the fourth month of the king's war, he would offer the hearts of four boys from each class and if the wars went on for a year, the number would go up to sixteen. This way the priest Mahesvaradatta, in the course of his life murdered eight hundred boys from each class and accumulated enormous lot of sin. After his death he was deservedly sent to the fifth region of hell.
He was re-born in the family of the priest Somadatta in the city of Kausambi. He was given the name of Brhaspatidatta. He grew up in great luxury and received plenty of loving care of his parents as well as his five nurses. The prince of the town Udayana by name
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
