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"He goes to Sarvartha Siddha; the above of the Liberated Souls at the crest of the sphere, which is the highest form of divine existence. But, King, there is nothing to be surprised at this. The main determinants of his future state are the states of his mind from time to time. At the moment when you put your first question to me, he was in the midst of a profound mental conflict. By the time you put your last question, he had regained full self-control and was busy with the purification of self".
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As Srenika was having the conversation with Mahävira, the royal monk standing outside in meditation attained omni-science. Heavenly drums were beaten in the sky. Seeing this glory of the spiritual governance of the Arhats, Srenika felt a delightful surprise (30).
According to the Caupanna Mahapurisa Cariyam, one day Indra praised Srenika in the following manner,
"At this moment, there is no one on the earth as pious and devoted as King Srenika".
Having heard these words of Indra, one god came down to this earth in order to hold the test, but when he found that Srenika was very firm in his devotion to the nirgrantha religion, he was very happy. While taking leave, this god bestowed on Sreņika a very precious eighteen-fold necklace which later became the cause of the
Rathamusala and the Mahasila -kantaka wars.
According to the Digambara belief, the first serman of Mahavira was delivered on the Vipulacala mountain at Rajagṛha on the first day of the dark half of Savana. Srenika, the king of Magadha, and his family attended that historic sermon. King Sreņika and Queen Celaņā were the foremost among the lay followers of Mahavira (31).
A Jaina or a Buddhist
If one depends wholly on the Jaina sources, one will hardly have occasion for doubt that Srenika was not a staunch follower of the nirgranthas. But when the Buddhist and the Jaina sources are placed side by side, the attention tends to be bifurcated. One finds it difficult to be dogmatic if he was one or the other. But in looking at the historical
