Jain Journal 1971 01

SR No.: 520021
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1971
Total Pages: 54
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 46

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JAIN JOURNAL
and turned mendicant. He wandered to Sukacchavijaya. There the soul of the serpent had been reborn as a wild Bhilla by name of Kurangaka who infested the mountain of Jvalana. Vajranabha went there and placed himself in kāyotsarga posture, fearless in the midst of the howls of elephants, jackals, rākşasas and so on. Kurangaka, out of prenatal hatred hit Vajranabha with an arrow. Vajranabha, though struck fatally, remained free from evil thought remarking that he had been killed by the soul of the Bhilla in a former birth. He was reborn as the god Lalitanga. Kurangaka, when he died, went to the Saptamavani hell.
Sarga 4: Story of the Emperor Suvarnabhanu
King Vajrabhanu of Surapura had a lovely and virtuous wife, named Sudarsana. The soul of Vajranabha, in due time, fell from heaven, and entered the womb of Sudarsana. The queen had the 'fourteen great dreams', which herald the birth of a Cakravartin (Emperor). In due course she gave birth to a boy whom the king named Suvarnabhanu. He grew up so accomplished as to permit the king, who had become averse to the world, to take the vow, and to leave his kingdom in charge of his son. One day Suvarnabhanu mounted on an inversely trained horse, which galloped off when checked by the rein. The horse did not stop until they came to a lake. After bathing in its clear water, the king saw in front of him an ascetic's grove full of antelopes. His right eye twitched, which encouraged him to enter the grove in joyous anticipation. There he saw a maiden, surrounded by companions, engaged in sprinkling creepers. The king thought her more beautiful than Rambha ; she seemed the quintessence of the charm of Nagas, Vidyadharas, and immortal women. While engaged in this thought, the maiden and a companion entered a bower of fllowers. There she began to sprinkle a Bakula tree with her mouth, to the delight of its blossoms. Ravished by her charms, the king reflected that she could not be an ordinary hermitage's servitor, but must be of royal descent. Now a bee flew into the face of the maiden. She asked her companion to protect her, but received the reply, that this was king Suvarnabhanu's business. Then the king showed himself, and asked who dared to injure her, while the son of Vajrabhanu was protector of the earth. The maidens remained silent. When the king again asked whether anything was disturbing their pious practices, the friend found courage to say, that during Suvarnabhanu's rulership no one could do so; that a bee merely had disturbed her friend. Then she asked him who he was. Unwilling to declare himself, he pretended to belong to the king's retinue, commissioned by the king to protect the hermitage from intrusion. But the maid knew him to be the king himself.