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JULY, 1977
Body treasure He throws to the dust, In His divine self-existence His soul puts trust, He shall prove the Jaina affirmative That it is not necessary to combine with matter to live. Yes, the world shall bid thanks to Jaina-India For the advent of the Lord with the conch insignia. He comes ... on a far tomorrow As surely as now I go." In absence of all passion The Lord took meditation, Motion then departed the Lord Nami, O, obeisance to His soul in Infinity.
Meantime, the Eternal Identity, The soul to become the Lord Aristanemi, Through eight births took right-minded passage To ready him for his ninth supreme pilgrimage.
First mother dreamed of a mango planted nine times, A Muni foretold the number of her embryo's lifetimes, Uplifting till in the ninth rebirth, to become The twenty-second teacher of Jaina wisdom. Her son. Prince Dhana. faithful to the last. Died with his dear wife on a religious fast. Reborn celestials, they were husband and wife, Till karma again plunged them into earth life. Now he was the merchant Citrangati who heeded a sermon, Reborn a god, then a king's worthy son, Reborn a god, then King Sankara to Yasomati faithful Because, a Muni stated, he was grateful For her wifehood or her friendship That had shared his past lives in loyal partnership. Even now the royal pair shared merit By jointly giving grape water for ascetics' benefit. The Muni foresaw the pair in Aparajita, in preparation For ninth and final body incarnation Wherein, though bethrothed, they would not marry Despite a wedding procession's revelry. Rather, the groom would renounce the unsacred procession To take pilgrimage for soul liberation, And the bride as nun in her own right Soul-insight would seek on a spiritual mountain height.
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