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His name was Aridamana. He had a beautiful and religious wife Kundanaprabhā, a young brave handsome and virtuous son Śrīpāla. Everything in the kingdom and its protectorate was ideal and people loved their king and his administration. However King Aridamana had a younger brother Birdamana who was exactly opposite of Aridmana in nature and was a source of continuous worry to Aridamana.
On a fateful night of lunar eclipse, Kind Aridamana called his son to his bedroom and gave a sermon bout Jain doctrine (Karma and its significance, ahimsāparamo dharmah and Live and let live etc). He told his son that he has to go as a result of his karmas leaving his empire in his (son) hand and guidance of his wife Kundanaprabhā. However he was worried about his younger brother and cautioned his son about him. He then died leaving everything to his adolescent son Śrīpāla.
Death of king Aridamana brought a strong feeling of detachment from worldly affairs in Śrīpāla's mind. He started going to Jain monks to learn about its karma doctrine and path of spiritual purification and lead a life of a sage. Worried, his mother wrote a letter to King of Ujjaini in Malwa district, Pahupāla, who was a childhood friend of Aridamana and sought his advice to bring back Śrīpāla back to normalcy and rule the kingdom. As per his advice Kundanaprabhā asked her son Śrīpāla to proceed to Ujjaini along with 700 soldiers to learn the intricacies of kingship.
Obeying his mother, Śrīpāla left for Ujjaini with his soldiers. He was extremely handsome and charismatic. On the way, he met a learned Jain monk to him and seeks his blessings. The monk told Śrīpāla that he is a very auspicious person, destined to rule the world and ultimately attain salvation in this life. However his path to salvation is full of difficulties which he will overcome through strenuous efforts and belief in himself. In the congregation, younger daughter of Pahupāla, Maināsundari was also there. She was also very beautiful, virtuous religious and firm believer in Jain doctrine. When both Śrīpāla and Maināsundari saw each other, they realized that they were made for each other (through their remembrances of past lives). Then Śrīpāla and his soldiers left for Ujjaini.
On arrival at Ujjaini, King Pahupāla accorded a royal welcome to Śrīpāla and introduced him to his wife queen Nipunasundarī and daughters Surasundari (elder and with bad character) and Maināsundari (younger). Pahupāla offered his guidance and assistance to Śrīpāla to
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0
