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03 - Chandanbälä
F04 Stories during Bhagawan Mahävir's Life
Meanwhile, Chandanbälä was thinking about how her life had changed. She started wondering how fate can change a person's life from riches to almost helplessness. Chandanbälä decided that she would like to make an offering of food to a monk or nun before eating. She got up, walked to the door, and stood there with one foot outside and one inside. To her surprise, she saw Lord Mahävir walking towards her. She said, "Oh revered Lord, please accept this food." Lord Mahävir had taken a vow to fast until a person who met certain conditions offered him food. His conditions were:
The person offering the food should be a princess She should be bald She should be in shackles She should offer boiled lentils, with one foot inside and the other foot outside the house She should have tears in her eyes
She should have been fasting Lord Mahävir looked at her and noticed that all of his conditions, except one, were met. Chandanbala met all of the requirements except the one which required her to have a tear in her eye. Because of this, Mahavir-swami turned around and began to walk away. At the sight of this, Chandanbala felt saddened that Mahavir-swami wouldn't accept her alms and began to cry. Once she started to cry, Mahavir-swami turned around and accepted the alms because the last of his conditions had been met. Chandanbälä felt very happy to be able to offer the lentils to Lord Mahavir. As Lord Mahävir had fasted for five months and twenty-five days, heavenly beings celebrated the end of Lord Mahävir's fast. By magical power, Chandanbälä's shackles broke, her hair grew back, and she was again dressed as a princess. There was music and celebration that drew the attention of King Shatänik. He came to see Chandanbälä with his family, ministers, and many other people. Sampul, a servant from her father's kingdom, recognized Chandanbälä. He walked towards her, bowed, and broke out in tears. King Shatänik asked, "Why are you crying?" Sampul replied, "My Lord, this is Vasumati, the princess of Champäpuri, daughter of King Dadhivähan and Queen Dhärini." The king and queen now recognized her and invited her to live with them.
Later, when Lord Mahävir attained keval-inän (perfect knowledge), he reestablished the fourfold order of the Jain sangh. At that time, Chandanbälä took diksha and became the first nun (sädhvi). She became the head nun of the Jain order. Later on, she attained keval-jnän and liberation from the cycle of life and death.
Moral:
We can learn about a number of behaviors that are cited in this story. Moolä's heart was blinded by jealously and therefore she did not understand Chandanbälä's plight, or the role of a mother, or the compassion of a father. This led her to do terrible things resulting in her acquiring bad karma. This depicts the destructive power of jealously and why we should avoid it. Next, the selfless old servant told Dhanävah about what had happened. She did this out of compassion and risked her own demise at the hands of Moola. This good karma will bind to her soul as punya and demonstrates the principles of Jainism. Similarly, Dhanävah's compassion and treatment of Chandanbälä supports the proper role of a father and the willingness to help an orphan. Lastly, Chandanbälä's offering of food to Lord Mahävir, despite her own pitiful situation, was very selfless and came from the heart. Following the principles of Jainism ultimately led Chandanbälä to the path of liberation.
Compendium of Jainism - 2015
Page 347 of 398
