$JES 904 Compendium of Jainism (Jain Academic Bowl Manual 3rd Edition)

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 367

F04 Stories during Bhagawan Mahävir's Life
14 - Abhaykumar and Thief Rohineya
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 wrongdoing. 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 karma 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 Ägams. We should study and understand the Ägams as much as we can so that our lives can change for the better just like that of Rohineya. Highlights:
Rohineya was born in a family of thieves and grew up to be the best thief. He promised his father never to listen to Lord Mahavir, but he was forced to listen due to his fate. Those few words saved his life when Abhaykumar had him apprehended. He realized the value of Lord Mahavir's teachings and took diskha and ultimately went to heaven. He also adopted the vow of Sanlekhana - avoiding food and staying in meditation until death. In Rohineya's case his pap, or bad karmas, were such that they were washed away by his punya, or good karmas, and hence he was able to go to heaven.
Compendium of Jainism - 2015
Page 367 of 398