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Nami: Fight but yourself! When the self is conquered, everything is conquered. He who
conquered his self which is (so) difficult to conquer, will obtain happiness. Indra: How strange! Wonderful enjoyments you are giving up, O king, unreal pleasures you
seek -- you are foiled by imagination.? Nami: A thorn are pleasures, poison are pleasures, pleasures are like a venomous snake; those
who seek pleasures go to hell unpleasantly. Down (to hell) one goes through anger, deep down one goes through pride, delusion is an obstruction to decent) rebirth, from greed there is danger in both worlds.
5. The Ascetic Meghakumara Meghakumara was the son of king Sreņika of Rājagļha. He was so named as his mother had a pregnancy-longing to enjoy the rain clouds out of season. When he was born there was a great rejoicing in the state. When he grew up he learnt seventy-two arts. He married eight beautiful princesses.
Once Mahāvira arrived in Rājagrha. Meghakumāra was delighted to learn about his arrival. He visited him and after listening to his religious sermons, was inspired to relinquish the wordly pleasures. He returned to his parents and expressed his desire to enter the ascetic order of Mahāvira. On hearing her son's proposal the mother got a shock and fell unconscious. After regaining her consciousness she tried to dissuade him from the path of renunciation. She explained the difficulties in accepting the path of asceticism. When all her attempts failed to hold him back, the parents requested him to enjoy the pleasures of royalty at least for a day. After the ceremony, a barber was called forth for hair-cut, the prince was given a bath, his body anointed with sandalwood paste, then he was richly dressed and ornamented. Then he was made to sit on a palanquin and applauded with the cries of congratulations, was led to the shrine where revered Mahāvira was sojourning.
. He shearing heress she oting them to enjoy air-cut,
Meghakumara accepted the vows of a monk in the presence of the Teacher and started practising penance, spending his time in reading holy scriptures and engaging himself in meditation. Now in the hall of residence of the monks, there were numerous resting places (seija) for the use of monks. The resting place of ascetic Meghakumāra was located near the entrance of the hall. Here as his fellow-monks, engaged in their religious duties, used to come and go, Meghakumara was disturbed and could not sleep well. While walking up and down, the ascetics collided with his head or stomach. Under the circumstances, Meghakumāra said to himself: "As long as I occupied the status of a prince, people respected me, honoured me and sought my consultation in various matters, but now nobody bothers about me. Therefore, it would be better if after obtaining the permission of the Teacher, I return to the household life."
With these ideas in mind, ascetic Meghakumára approached Mahavira and sought his permission to return to household life. Thereupon Mahāvira narrated him a story of his previous birth: "In his previous life he was reborn as an elephant and was roaming about in jungle. Once a hare came running and took refuge below his foot which was lifted up (pae ukkhitte). At this time, having pity on the hare, he kept on lifting his foot and bore physical and
1-2-3 Translation by Alsdorf, ibid, pp 15-6 4. The chapter is known as Ukkhitta.
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