________________
II
continued to pester her, Rajimati one day sipped some tasty drink. She put some bitter thing in her mouth and vomited what she drank in a vessel. Pointing at this vessel she asked Rathnemi, “Would you like to drink this?” Rathnemi replied, “How can I drink vomit?”
Rajimati, “When you refuse to drink vomit how can you think of accepting me? As I have been rejected by lord Arishtnemi, I am just like a spewed out thing."
These words of Rajimati jolted Rathnemi out of his lust and opened his inner eyes. Rajimati got initiated. Rathnemi too got initiated.
One day Rathnemi was proceeding to pay homage to Bhagavan Arishtnemi stationed at the peak of Raivat hill. While he was on his way it started raining. He entered a cave and started meditation. Rajimati was returning after paying homage to the Lord. She got drenched and then entered the same cave. Once inside she started drying her clothes. Suddenly the cave was filled with a flash of light caused by lightening. In that momentary glow ascetic Rathnemi saw the partially exposed figure of Rajimati and was overcome by lust. He approached Rajimati and begged her to quench his burning desire. With her piercing words Rajimati chastised Rathnemi who reined in his wavering mind and regained his serenity.
This sermon of Rajimati is a powerful message of patience and stability and that is the backdrop of this chapter. According to the commentators Agastya Simha and Haribhadra Suri, verses 7, 8 and 9 of this chapter are the words of Rajimati. In their commentaries they have narrated this story to establish the context of these verses. Thus this small chapter with eleven verses is devoted only to this message. Five verses (42 to 46) in the 22nd chapter of Uttaradhyayan Sutra are exactly same as verses 7 to 11 of this chapter.
It is believed that the content of this chapter has been reproduced from the third chapter of the extinct Pratyakhyan Purva (one of the fourteen extinct subtle canonical texts).
facity 3EST: STAR Second Chapter : Samanna Puvviya
95
NO
VERT
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
