________________
334 1
[ Eleventh Chaturmasa in Vaishali
his own accord, and accepted the poor food that was given to him, without any consideration for his pride of wealth. Indeed, the great souls remain quite aloof from the petty considerations of this world. Whatever they seem to do they do for their own welfare and for the welfare of others. Jinadatta, who had been waiting for the arrival of the Lord to have his Parana ( food at the breaking of the penance ) at his house, for the last four months, now felt his hopes crumbling to earth. He began to curse bis owo Fate and praise the past karmas of Purna Bhadra.
After having his parana, Lord Mahavira left the house of Purna Bhadra. Shortly after this, the king of that city and his followers went to a wise hermit, a desciple in the line of Lord Parshvanatha, who was staying in the same garden at that time, and worshipped him. The king said “ Your Holiness, Purna Bhadra, the Setha, is the most fortunate and religious man in my kingdom. Who can be more fortunate than one at whose house Lord Mahavira came of his own accord and accepted food.” The wise hermit returned, “ Your thoughts, O king, are good. They will open the way for future happiness. But in reality, JinaDatta is more fortunate and more devout than Purna-Bhadra for he has already offered Parana to the Lord in the form of warm feelings towards him and has become entitled for being born as god Achyut after this birth. And: hence, while his fame will be spread in this world on the one hand, he will be able to attain salvation on the other. The thou. ghts of Purna Bhadra on the contrary are not pure,and therefore, the good result with which he has been honoured in consequence of his giving food to the Lord will end with his
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
