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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The monk, who was re-born as a snake, had come into a particular species which could remember the previous birth. They moved about only in the night and spent the whole of the day in their holes so that none of the living beings would die by their glance. Once a snake catcher came to the hole of the monkturned-snake and waited patiently at the opening. The snake, who had seen the effect of his own wrath thought that if he were to crawl out head first, he might kill the man standing outside over there by his glance alone. Therefore, he tried to wriggle out tail first. The snake catcher cut him off bit by bit at the tail and at the body till he cut off his head as well. Thus the snake died.
A supernatural spirit, a Devata, had resided in that snake. She now appeared before the king in his dream and warned him not to kill snakes. The Devata prophesied to the king the birth of a son who would have transmigrated from the serpent species and she further suggested that the boy should be given Nagadatta as his name. In the course of time, the monk who had become a snake and who had allowed himself to be killed by the snake charmer was re-born now as a son to the king. He was accordingly named Nāgadatta. He renounced worldly life at a young age.
But as a consequence of his life in a lower species during the previous cycles, he was always hungry and wanted to keep eating all the time from morning to evening. But otherwise he was very tranquil and quiet. In his group of monks, there were four othersone observed a four-month fast, the other for three months, the third for two months and the fourth for a month. Once at night a Devata came to see the monks but she overlooked all the fasting monks and greeted the boy monk who was standing behind them. All the other monks felt slighted and when the Devata was going away, the monk who was observing the fast for the longest period caught the end of her garment and detained her. He poured out all his anger on the 'wretched' witch as he called her and demanded, "How is it that you overlooked senior monks like us which is insulting, and bowed before this beggar which is more insulting ?" The Devata's reply was that she knew who really was the right type of monk, surely not those who demanded obeisance and remained