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Jain Society of Greater Detroit
PRATISHTHA MAHOTSAV ASHADH 4-12 V.S. 2054
SADHVI BHADRAMA (ARNAK MATA) (era of Mahavirswami)
"Oh Arnak!
Oh Arnak!" Hearing these voices, a storm suddenly arose in Arnak's mind. He began to think, "In which dark ocean of lower-life forms have I fallen into? I took the vows of asceticism in my childhood with my parents. Under the protective hand of my father I did not face any difficulties, but after his death I have had to go asking for bhiksha alone. In order to save myself from the blazing sun above and the burning hot sand below my
feet, I took refuge in the shade of a palace. I let my weak mind get entangled in a web of seduction laid down by a beautiful lady of the palace who was deprived of sensual pleasures, her husband being abroad. And I enjoyed the offerings of her beautiful body, becoming decadent." "Where is my Arnak?" Hearing these pain-filled words again, he shuddered. He looked outside the palace. There his wandering sadhvi ma stood, crying. Arnak's rambling mind began looking for a proper direction. Ignoring the one behind him and breaking the chains of love in one move, he fell at his mother's feet. Now under the scorching sun and on burning boulders, undertaking fast unto death, he started to renounce and find release from this pleasure-seeking body. Now at last, his mind had become stable. "Oh Bhadrama! You are great for bringing your son ashore from that dark ocean."
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