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JAINA STORIES
"But mysterious is the way of destiny The ton 17keeper Basudatta saw the girl one day, as she was going somewhere, and he became mad to get her He sent his proposal to Priyamitra at once but was told that she was already betrothed to Jinadatta. Thenceforth Basudatta was on the look-out for a chance to remove Jinadatta from this world so that he would have no nval to get the girls hand
“One day, the king had gone out on a holiday with the royal household, and, by chance, one of his ear-rings dropped somewhere on the way Inspite of all searches, it could not be found The king entrusted the search to Basudatta, who luckily found it soon and restored it to the king When the king enquired how he got it, he said, it had been recovered from Jinadatta The king could not believe at once For, Jinadatta was well-known for his spiritual leanings, But Basudatta insisted, 'Your Majesty ! Religion is just a camouflage for all his misdeeds So far I desisted from reporting against him to Your Majesty, but, sif, in the whole kingdom, there is none who may equal him in vile deeds' The king gave orders that such a wicked person should be wiped out as soon as possible
"Basudatta spent no time to arrest Jinadatta and took him round the city on the back of a donkey, as was the practice with all the condemned persons in those days. What an irony of fate 1 Whoever saw him in this state was not only shocked and shed tears, but openly decried the king and his town-keeper Only the low-brows talked ill of the pious man
"When Jinamati heard the noise in the street, she came at her window and was shocked to see the pitiable sight. Just at that moment, Jinadatta's eyes also fell on her and he was sorry to see the girl's plight For the first time, he felt that the girl loved him and he did a wrong thing in