________________
When such a virtuous person accepts monkhood, would he leave anything undone? He developed his moral behaviour greatly. However, on Kshullakmuni's saying, "Maharaj! Dedki ....Maharaj! dedki" he lost his eventemperedness. He was enraged, because of which in his coming births, he lost not only his virtue of forgiveness but also his good moral conduct. His downfall led him to become a 'Drishti visha sarpa' named Chandakaushika. His only aim was to reduce to ashes, whosoever he cast his glance upon. What a difference between Gobhadra and Chandakaushika sarpa! He was fortunate to have encountered Lord Mahavir who sermonized to him and brought back his memory of his past births. Then he made his mind surrender to forgiveness completely which required a tremendous exertion on the snake's part. Chandakaushika was back on track. However, if he had not met Lord Mahavir, what would have been his coming births like?
Lord Mahavir's soul in his third birth was born as Marichi. He accepted an initiation from the first Tirthankara and his grandfather Lord Rishabhdev, and was completely wedded to the spirit of non-attachment. He made his soul great by his good conduct. As time went by, he started feeling a lack of bodily comforts while leading the life of a monk. He lost the moral behaviour of a Jain monk which he had attained after arduous effort over a
Dedki = a female frog
Drishti visha sarpa = a snake whose mere glance is so potently poisonous that whosoever he gazes at, is burnt down to ashes in a matter of a moment
100
