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19
MUNI NANDISENA
nce there was a Brahmin. His name was Yagnapriya.
He lived in Shripur. One day he asked his servant to do some work. He agreed to do so if he would receive the offerings given in the sacrifice.
This servant now began to give to the monks (as charity) what he thus received. As a result of this charity, he was re-born as a son of King Shrenik, bearing the name of Nandisena.
His master was born as a lion in a forest. In the forest lived a king of the elephants, who used to kill new born elephants. He did this lest the elephants born should usurp his lordship in course of time.
Now, the she-elephant who was pregnant thought. “He will certainly kill my young one when born. Hence it would be advisable to hide it elsewhere as soon as it is born." So she began to walk with a limp and followed the king of the elephants.
Thinking that the time of her delivery was near, she went to a hermitage in the forest. Here she was given shelter, and, in due course, she gave birth to a good baby. Then she used to visit that king of the elephants and would feed the young
