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MEGHAKUMÄR
23 - Meghakumär
King Shrenik of Magadha region in the state of Bihar had a beautiful queen named Dhärini. Once, while she was sleeping, she dreamt of a white elephant entering her mouth. She immediately woke up and told the King about her dream. King Shrenik knew that it was an auspicious dream. He called the dream experts who predicted that the queen would give birth to a very handsome and intelligent son who will excel in everything. The King and queen were very pleased to hear this.
During the third month of her pregnancy, queen Dhärini had an irresistible urge to ride an elephant in the country with the King with the sky decorated with clouds of colorful hues, lightning flashing, and rain pouring. In most parts of India, it only rains during the monsoon season, which is usually from June to October. Queen Dhärini, however, had the urge during the off-season. The fulfillment of her urge was therefore a problem. In order to see that her health and well-being were not affected by the unsatisfied urge, the King asked his eldest son, Abhaykumär, who was also the Prime Minister of the state, for a solution to satisfy the queen's urge. Abhaykumar had a friend who could do miracles. The friend arranged events according to Dhärini's urge. She was therefore able to ride on an elephant with the King and satisfy her urge. In due course, Queen Dhärini gave birth to a very handsome and adorable baby boy. Rain in the Indian language is called Megh, so in commemoration of her urge during pregnancy, the boy was named Meghakumär. At the age of 8, he was sent to school, where he learned all 72 types of arts and crafts and became an accomplished youth. He got married and enjoyed all the pleasures of worldly life.
Once, Lord Mahävir came to Räjgrihi, the capital city of Queen Dhärini riding an elephant
Magadha, and stayed in the Gunashil monastery. Almost
every resident of Räjgrihi went to listen to his sermons. Meghakumär went as well. The sermon made a lasting impression on him. He realized the transitory nature of worldly situations and decided to renounce his worldly life. His parents were sad to hear about his plan. They tried everything possible to prevent him from renouncing his worldly life. However, he remained firm. Nevertheless, in order to satisfy his parents' wishes, he agreed to become the king for one day. He was ceremoniously crowned King with all the royal pomp. Immediately after that, he left everything, renounced worldly life, and became a disciple monk of Lord Mahävir. At night, as a junior monk, he was given a place to sleep near the entrance. During the night, other monks using the restrooms had to walk past his side. Since no lamps are allowed in the upashray (the monks' residence), they happened to trample on his bed and sometimes their feet accidentally touched his body in the dark. Poor Meghakumär could not sleep for the whole night. He had grown up in luxuries. Therefore, it was difficult for him to bear the accidental kicking by the monks and his bed and body being smeared in dirt. He felt that he could not bear that sort of a miserable life and decided to give up the life of a monk. In the morning, he went to Lord Mahävir to seek permission to return home. Mahävir was aware of the discomforts that Meghakumär had faced the previous night and told him, "Meghakumär, you do not remember, but let me describe to you the discomforts that you faced during your previous life." "In your previous life you were Meruprabhä, the King of elephants. Once there was a terrible forest fire from which you narrowly escaped. You decided to make a shelter that all the animals could use in case of another fire. You
JAIN STORY BOOK
