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BHAGAWAN MALLINÄTH
the womb of Prabhävati and was born as Princess Malli. (The Digambar tradition believes that Tirthankar Mallinäth was male). A few years later, Queen Prabhävati had a son named Malladin. The six friends of Mahabal were reborn as princes in different kingdoms. They eventually became powerful kings of the cities of Hastinapur, Ayodhyä, Champa, Käshi, Kämpilyapur, and Shrävasti. All of these cities were located in the present states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. King Kumbha and Queen Prabhävati lovingly raised their children Malli and Malladin. Princess Malli was exceedingly charming and beautiful and grew up to be a very attractive girl. Malladin respected his older sister. King Kumbha wanted to give them the best education and therefore entrusted their training to highly respected teachers who taught them all the required arts and crafts. Princess Malli mastered all the fine arts and became a talented and accomplished princess. Malladin learned all the martial arts and became a bold and brave youth. At one point, King Kumbha decided to establish an art gallery in Mithilä. A marvelous building was constructed for this purpose and all well-known artists were invited to make their artistic contribution to the gallery. One artist from Hastinapur possessed a special power to prepare an accurate portrait of anyone by merely seeing one part of his or her body. He once happened to see the toe of princess Malli and from that, he drew an accurate portrait of princess Malli on the wall. Even the smallest details were accurately portrayed. It was so lifelike that when prince Malladin came to see the gallery and looked at the portrait, he felt as if his sister were standing there and actually folded his hands as a token of respect. When he realized that it was merely a portrait, he was puzzled as to how the artist had obtained such minute details of his sister's body. He was told of the special power and the talent that the artist possessed. Although he recognized the rarity of this accomplishment, the prince also foresaw the dangers of such a talent. He therefore wanted to prevent the use of that special power. The artist was asked to abandon his art in return for a suitable reward. The artist refused and insisted upon his freedom of artistic expression. In order to prevent the misuse of the artist's talents, the prince ordered that the thumb of the artist be cut off; and the artist decided immediately to take revenge. The angry artist returned to Hastinapur without one thumb. He found another artist who could draw a portrait of princess Malli according to his instructions. In time he prepared an even more attractive portrait of Malli and presented it to the King of Hastinapur (who was Malli's close friend in a previous life). The King was very impressed by the portrait, fell in love with Malli, and decided to make princess Malli his wife. He sent a marriage proposal to King Kumbha of Mithilä. In the same manner the kings of Ayodhyä, Champa, Käshi, Kämpilyapur and Shrävasti also learned of the exceptional beauty of princess Malli and sent marriage proposals. After considering these proposals, King Kumbha did not find any of them suitable for Malli and rejected them all. This angered the six kings, who decided to conquer the city of Mithilä together in order to get princess Malli. King Kumbha faced them with all his might but he could not withstand the combined strength of the invading forces. He retreated back to his kingdom and closed the gates of the city. The invading forces then laid siege on Mithilä, but the city would not be able to withstand the siege for long. When princess Malli came to know of the situation, she contemplated on the issue. Gifted with an enlightened mind, she realized that the root cause of the problem lay in her earlier life. She recalled her life as King Mahabal and realized that due to their deep affection for her in their previous lives, all six of the kings even now desired to be near her. Malli decided that since she was the cause of the problem, she herself should find a solution. She requested her father not to worry and to leave everything to her. Upon remembering that the palace had a hall with six doors, Malli came up with a plan. Behind each door she arranged beautifully furnished rooms. The doors of the hall were fitted with a fine screen through which people sitting in the rooms could look into but not see what was happening in the other five rooms. Malli commissioned a statue of herself so lifelike that anyone looking at the statue would believe that it was the princess herself. The statue was hollow with a hole at the top which could be covered tightly. The statue was placed in the middle of the hall and a maidservant was asked to put a morsel of food twice a day within its cavity and then close its top immediately.
JAIN STORY BOOK
