________________
PART IV STORIES DURING BHAGAWAN MAHAVIR
He then disclosed his real identity to the King, who was present in the assembly, and was ready to accept any punishment. He also requested Abhaykumar to accept all the treasures he had collected during his burglaries. Since Rohineya had voluntarily confessed and had willingly returned everything that he had taken, the king decided to pardon him and permitted him to become a monk. Rohineya deeply repented for what he had done in his life. He started observing severe austerities in order to erase the karmas acquired by his misdeeds. In his old age, with permission from Lord Mahävir, he adopted Sanlekhana (avoiding food and staying in meditation until death). After his death, he was born in heaven.
Moral:
The theme here focuses on honesty and the principle of non-stealing. One should not steal from others even if one intends to donate the stolen items to the poor. Wrongdoing is still wrongdoing regardless of how much good you are doing in other areas. One must repent in order to destroy the bad karmas that accumulate as a result of wrongdoings. The second thing we learn from this story is that we can attain liberation only through the human form. Even heavenly beings cannot attain liberation without being born as human beings. So we should realize how fortunate we are to have this human birth, and we should make the most of it and wash away as many bad karmas as we can. Also, look at the power of Lord Mahävir's sermon. Just a few words from his sermon saved and then ultimately changed Rohineya's life forever. Imagine the benefit of listening to all His teachings. Unfortunately, we cannot listen to his sermons directly, but we have his teachings available to us as Agams. We should study and understand the Agams as much as we can so that our lives can change for the better just like that of Rohineya.
32 - Questions: 1. What did Lohkhur ask his Rohineya to never do? Why? 2. How did Rohineya happen to hear Bhagawan Mahävir's sermon? 3. When Abhaykumär caught Rohineya in disguise, did he confess to being the thief? What did he reply? 4. What plan did Abhaykumär devise to get Rohineya to tell the truth? 5. How did he figure out that he was not really in heaven? Did Abhaykumär's plan work to get Rohineya to
confess? 6. What were Rohineya's thoughts after he was released? What did he do?
116
JAIN STORY BOOK
