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357 he should specially bring from Ujjayini. Pradyota quickly agreed and soon enough the walls were constructed around Kausāmbi. Then the queen said that the coffers should be adequately replenished. This also he did. When the queen saw that her town had become unassailable and the royal treasury was all filled, she began to think otherwise. The uppermost thought in her mind was: " Blessed are the places and regions where the Great Master treads. If only he were to come here, to bless this land by however brief a visit, she would willingly embrace the ascetic way of life at his instance."
Lo ! The Great Master indeed appeared in person and all enmities died down and harmony prevailed in that region. When Mahavira held his first discourse, the queen went to listen. During the evening, one amongst the audience felt he ought to ask a question to him but he would not speak it out. He thought the Master is reputed to be all-knowing and expected the question to be answered without being asked. The Master nevertheless asked him to speak out aloud and put the question openly so that every one would learn about it. The man only muttered, "Lord, she... she... she... was she?" Gautama, the favourite of Mahāvira wanted to know what the man possibly could have meant by she, she, she. Mahāvira thereupon told the following story : A HEAP OF GLASS
"Once upon a time in Campanagari there lived a goldsmith who was known all over the neighbourhood for his weakness for young women. He would offer to a girl he fancied a tempting amount of five hundred gold coins and the parents would quickly agree to give the girl in marriage to him. This way he had collected a large harem of five hundred attractive women. He made a set of fourteen ornaments for each one of them but would not give them to any of them to wear unless it was the day when he had invited her to sleep with him. On all other days he kept the jewellery safely locked. Out of sheer jealousy he hardly left the house nor did he allow any one else to visit it.
Once a friend of his invited him to dinner. He was most reluctant to accept the invitation but the friend forced him to accept it. So he
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| SR No. | 006762 |
| Book Title | Treasury of Jain Tales |
| 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 |