________________
power of his excessive merit and unequalled brilliance, the rock stopped midway and the city was saved.
Once a small snake entered the basket of flowers which Nagketu used for worship, and bit him while he reached for the flowers. He felt unbearable pain, yet Nagketu advanced in pure meditation and unprecedented equanimity. He started ascending the ‘Kshapak-Shreni’ and ultimately attained ‘keval-jnana'. Due to the efficacy of his meritorious psychical state, the snakebite had no effect on him. During his long state as a ‘kevali”, he roamed the earth and eventually, by destroying his remaining four ‘aghati' karmas, he achieved moksh.
Many from amongst us have performed austerities like, ‘attham' and even ‘atthai' or ‘masakshamana', not once but several times. Leave aside Dharanendra, not even an ordinary demi-god has come to us. However, Dharanendra himself came to the child, Nagketu.
He was reared by the King with a lot of affection and care. Even the power of the malicious demi-god was not potent enough to defeat the power of Nagketu and the city was saved from the huge rock.
Kshapak-Shreni = ladder of elimination (of karmas) Dharanendra = the Chief demi-god serving Lord Parshvanath Kevali = one who has attained keval-jnana (omniscience) Moksh = salvation; liberation; emancipation Aghati karma = non-destructive karmas; karmas which do not destroy the intrinsic qualities of a soul – Aghati karmas are four (1) Nama karma-physique making karma (2) Gotra karma-status determining karma (3) Vedaniya karma-Feeling producing karma (4) Ayushya karma-longevity determining karma Atthai = an eight day fast
171
