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NandiSootra
behind the old man. When the guru saw the boulder coming at him he evaded it and saved himself. This despicable act of the disciple angered the guru and he cursed and cast a spell - "Scoundrel! You are so mean that you can resort to killing some one. Go! I curse you that a woman will be the cause of your downfall."
It was the second nature of Koolvalak to go against the words of his guru and try to prove him wrong. In order to prove even these words of the guru wrong, he went at a desolate place and started meditation on the banks of a river. He did not even go into the village to beg food. He lived on any food provided by any passerby, if at all there was such an opportunity. Once the river was in spate. Koolbalak was afraid that he would be swept away. But the effect of his harsh penance was such that the river changed its bed on its own. It was this astonishing event that gave him his popular name Koolvalak.
First of all Magadhika found out about the place where Koolvalak lived. After that she disguised herself as a shravika and started living near the river. She impressed Koolvalak with her devotion and services and requested him to accept food from her. When the ascetic came to her cottage for food she mixed some strong purgative in the food and served. The ascetic got acute dysentery. During his sickness the courtesan nursed him. With constant touch of the female body the ascetic was drawn towards her. Finding him in a mental state that suited her purpose Magadhika brought him to king Kunik.
Kunik first pleased the ascetic with his devout behaviour and then asked - "Great ascetic, please show me the way to breach this immense and surrounding wall around Vaishali."
Koolvalak thought for sometime and then rephed - "King, I will disguise myself as an augur and enter the city. At the proper time I will give a message by furling a white flag from the parpetAs soon as you see this flag you should retreat a short dis-tance with your army. This will infuse confidence for me in the minds of the citizens.
After Kunik agreed, Koolbalak disguised himself as an augur and easily entered the city. Seeing an augur the prominent citizens of Vaishali approached him and asked - "Sir, king Kunik has surrounded our city. Please tell us how to come out of this predicament." Koolbalak, with the help of his special powers and knowledge, already knew that the stupa (a dome shaped religious structure) at the center of the city cast a protective shield on the walls.
The moment the stupa was demolished the wall could be breached easily. As such, he said to the citizens of Vaishali deceitfully "Brothers, the stupa at the center of city is root cause of this problem. As long as that stupa is not demolished you can not be freed from this trouble. When you demolish it Kunik will retreat on his own."
The simple and ignorant citizens were caught in the ascetics trap. They started demolishing the stupa. Getting this work started Koolvalak went to the parapet on some pretext and raised a white flag. Following the plan Kunik started retreating with his army. When the citizens saw this, they believed what the augur had said and resumed the demolition work with renewed enthusiasm. Soon the stupa was completely demolished and with it ended the divine protection. Kunik was waiting for this moment. He at once launched his attack and breaking the fortification conquered Vaishali. The courtesan used her partnamiki buddhi to cause the downfall of the ascetic and Koolvalak misused his partnamiki buddhi to demolish the stupa. This concludes the description of ashrut nishrit mati jnana. Aagam- 44 -NandiSootra
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Compiled by- Deepratnasagar
