Vajrakumar

SR No.: 201070
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee
Publication Year: 2010
Total Pages: 4
Language: English
Classification: Article, Jaina_Education, & 0_Jaina_education_Story
File Size: 1 MB

Page 2

STORIES AFTER BHAGAWAN MAHÄVIR
(May you follow the proper religion). Sunanda recognized the voice. She welcomed Muni Dhangiri and expressed happiness in seeing him again. She invited him to enter the house for food.
The young boy also heard Muni Dhangiri's words "Dharma Läbha". He thought that this was the best opportunity for his trick so he started crying. This irritated his mother and she told the monk, "You are lucky to be able to uplift your soul but I am tired with the burden of your child. He does nothing but cry. He does not let me rest and I am very unhappy. Please accept him so there will be peace in the house." The child heard these words and became very happy in his mind. He hoped that Muni would accept her proposal. Muni Dhangiri remembered the words of his Guru spoken right before he left for alms. Now he understood what his Guru meant. He said, "Sunandä, if you really want to give this child away, I will accept him, but please think twice. Once you give him away you will not be able to get him back. You will have no right to this child after that." On hearing this, the child started crying even louder. She said, "I do not want to hear this crying anymore. I am so sick and tired of him that I do not want him around at all. You can take him forever."
She picked up the child and put him in the Muni's cloth bag. As soon as the boy was handed over to the Muni, he stopped crying and started smiling. Sunanda was surprised by this and kept looking at the boy. However, she was determined to give him away. Muni left with the child to go to the Upäshray (place where monks stay). Acharya Sinhgiri saw that Muni Dhangiri was carrying something heavy. So he asked him, "Why is your bag so heavy?" When the Muni opened his bag, his Guru saw the handsome smiling boy. Since he was so heavy the Ächärya named him "Vajrakumär”.
Acharya Sinhgiri requested a prominent Jain Shravak (householder) to take care of Vajrakumar and to make sure that he was taught Jain religious teachings as he had the potential of being a great Acharya in the future. The Shrävak brought Vajrakumăr home and told his wife what Acharya Sinhgiri wanted them to do. She was a very religious woman and happily agreed to the wishes of the Ächärya. She loved the boy so much that she would not let him go anywhere without her. She always took him to the Upäshray to see the Sädhvis (nuns). Even though he was little, he listened to and memorized all the scriptures the nuns were reciting. By the time, he was three years old, he had learned up to eleven Angas (oldest Jain scriptures). He was respectful to everybody and talked very intelligently.
One day, one of Sunanda's friends came to her house and said, "Do you know that your child, who kept crying, spends a lot of his time at our Upäshray? I have never heard him cry. He is a very charming and lovable child." Sunandä tried to ignore what her friends told her but after all she was Vajrakumär's mother. She longed to see her son again. She started thinking, "How could I have done such a terrible thing? How could I have given up my precious child to a Muni? After all, he is my child. I should get him back."
A few days later, Ächärya Sinhgiri and Muni Dhangiri came to Tumbivan again. She went to the Upäshray. She approached Muni Dhangiri and asked him "Please, give my son back. I cannot live without him any more." Muni Dhangiri said, “I told you at that time that once you have given him away you will not get him back. Remember, you said you did not want him at all. We cannot give back what we take."
Sunandä said, "I do not know why I did that. I cannot live without my son. Please find a way to give me back my son."
Ächärya Sinhgiri and Muni Dhangiri tried to convince her to forget him, but she was determined to get him back.
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