________________
339
On seeing him, Gobhadra thought "Ah! Is it deception, visage, or mental consusion !
Is it delusion of sight or a variety of deception ! Or, that, this is a place of sorceresses, and so prompted by the force of my own actions, I am certainly doomed to destruction. It would have been much better, if I had secured preliminary accomplishments for the next world, by doing virtuous deeds on the banks of the divine river. While he was thus sorrowfully. trembling with fear of death, and thinking dubiously, he was thus accosted by Vidyäsiddha. "O Gobhadra ! Why do you, thus, entertain mental confusion. You have nothing to fear here. Give me the preservative armlet entrusted to you." 'Gobhadra then went to him with full confidence. As soon as he saw Vidyāsiddha bound with fetters in various ways, Gobhadra, with tears in his eyes, said " Ah ! honourable inan | How did you come to this miserable state !
Vidyasiddha sald “O Gobhadra! What is the use of lamentation? You immediatly tie the prebervative armlet on my arm ". Then saying, “Just as you order” he tied the preservative armlet. At once all the fetters dropped loose with a crackling noise, and Vidyäsiddha became perfectly comfortable. Gobhadra gald " honourable man ! What are the news! Where is the bath in the river and what aboui your arrival here? Or, why this coercion ? I am very curious to know about this matter, Tell me what is the true state of things ! Vidyāsiddha, then, said, “Now listen. This is the result of my sudden hurried fall lato the waters of the Ganges without thinking about the appropriateness or otherwise of my act, soon after handing over the glorious preservative armlet to you." Gobbadra said “ How did it happen ?" Vidyāsiddha replied “ When I was doing prārāyāma only for · Muharla, my body became very weak and Candralekhā-the mistress of this house-bearing malice towards me lifted me in a way that cannot be seen by you, and having brought me here tied me very fightly with fetters. Gobhadra asked “O honourable man! What was the cause of this enmity? Vidya
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org