________________
various incidents from his life and wrote his biography. Many stray works are also available about him.
The 23 female ascetics, the hair raising descriptions of whose austerities are mentioned in seventh and eighth sections of Antakriddasha Sutra were all queens of this same king Shrenik.
Brief details about king Shrenik are as follows
King Prasenjit of Kushagrapur had one hundred sons of whom Shrenik was the eldest and ablest.
King Prasenjit had married a Bhil (an aborigine) girl on the condition that only her son will inherit his kingdom. The Bhil girl gave birth to a son who was named Chilati Kumar.
The king was bound by his word to give the throne to Chilati Kumar. He tested the wisdom of all the princes. Although Shrenik passed all the tests he was exiled.
All this was done to give the throne to Chilati Kumar. And as soon as Shrenik left he was crowned
Leaving the city, Shrenik stayed in a Buddhist shrine. The Buddhist acharya welcomed him cordially and offered him food. Shrenik was impressed by this warmth of the acharya.
He proceeded ahead and arrived at Venatat city. Due to his meritorious kurmas and wisdom a rich merchant married his wise and educated daughter Nanda to Shrenik. Thus Nanda was Shrenik's first wife and she gave birth to a talented son like Abhaya Kumar.
Under the bad rule of Chilati Kumar the public suffered gravely. The administration was loose and the economic condition miserable. This told upon the health of king Prasenjit who fell ill. In this situation, on the call of the ministers, Shrenik had to come to his ailing father, leaving his pregnant wife at Venatat with her father.
Shrenik took over the reigns of the empire and made everyone happy with his policies and governance besides enriching the kingdom. His fame spread far and near. He married 500 princesses. Dharini was his principle queen.
Some years later with the help of Abhayakumar's wisdom king Shrenik also met his first wife Nanda.
King Shrenik had numerous sons including Abhaya Kumar, Konik, Megh Kumar, Kaal Kumar, Halla Kumar, Vihalla Kumar and others.
The warmth shown by the Buddhist acharya during Shrenik's exile inspired him to accept Buddhist faith. When he came in contact with Anathi Muni and was inspired by queen Chelna he acquired the knowledge of true fundamentals. He became a devout follower of Bhagavan Mahavir. He had strong faith in Bhagavan Mahavir and it lead to his becoming samyakivi (Samyaktva is a specific state of righteousness where right perception and right knowledge start translating into right conduct. Although he could
• XEO •
Antakriddasha Mahima
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
