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Journey into Jainism
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the king, "We could not buy even one of these rugs to keep, whereas Shaalibhadra bought all of them and then threw them away.”
The king could hardly believe his ears. He decided to meet Shaalibhadra. He sent for him through his messenger who met Bhadraa. She replied politely that her son was very delicate. He could not come down even to the first floor of the house. She requested the king to come up himself.
King Shrenik was very astonished by her statement, but went up nevertheless. He waited for Shaalibhadra to come out of his room. When Bhadraa told Shaalibhadra that the king was waiting to see him, he said, “Mother, whatever price is to be paid for purchasing the king. pay it and keep it in our treasure room.”
Bhadraa tried to explain to him that the king was not a commodity but he did not understand. At last he was told that the king was their master. He then came out and bowed to the king as instructed. The king blessed him and returned to his palace. Shaalibhadra was perplexed; he could not believe that anyone was superior to him. In order to solve the problem, he decided to meditate and hoped that the answer would come to him. Through meditation, he had a revelation of his previous life and realized that money was not everything. He also started to think about his present weak condition and whether he could ever be satisfied with money. Upon that stroke of wisdom, he decided to renounce his household and his thirty-two wives. After heralding this idea to everyone, he was criticised by his wives, sister and mother.
