________________
Life and Stories of Pārçvanatha
86
In the mean time Kamatha, unchastened even by the murder of Marubhūti, ignored by his teacher, despised by other ascetics, had died in a troubled state of mind (ārtadhyāna), and was reborn as a kurkuṭa-serpent. Killing or endangering all living beings, he infested the forest, and finally bit the elefant Marubhūti. The latter died in the thought of the Law (dharmadhyāna), therefore was reborn as a god in the Sahasrara heaven,37 where he was acclaimed by celestial females. Varuņā also was reborn in heaven as Marubhūti's wife; they lived there in the highest enjoyment of the pleasures of the senses. The kurkuța-serpent (Kamatha) was reborn as a hell-inhabitant in the Pañcamavani hell,38 suffering all the tortures of that hell (858-885).
42
This is the second pre-birth of the future Asura Meghamalin. The fabulous serpent, called kurkuṭoraga, kurkutahi, kukkutoraga, kukkuṭahi, kukkuṭābha, occurs here for the first time in literature. It is likened in stanza 860 to a winged Yama (jātapakṣo yama iva), and, therefore, is conceived as a winged dragon. But it figures as a mere cock in the sculpture described on p. 19 ff.
"This is the third pre-birth of the future Parçva.
"This is the third pre-birth of the future Asura Meghamålin.
