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Jain Society of Greater Detroit
PRATISHTHA MAHOTSAV ASHADH 4-12 V.S. 2054
MAHAMANTRI ABHAYKUMAR (era of Mahavirswami) wam)
King Shrenik,
wanting to determine who would be his next chief minister, decided to test his would-be candidates. Throwing a ring into a dry well, he challenged his candidates to remove it without entering the well. Abhaykumar threw cow dung on top of the ring and let the dung dry up. He then filled the well with wa
ter and the ring came
out with the dung. The
king, impressed with Abhaykumar who happened to be his son, appointed him as the chief minister. Once the king's executioner stole mangoes from the garden of Queen Chelna, using magic, but the minister Abhay caught him. King Shrenik expressed the desire to learn this magic. Abhaykumar seated the executioner on the throne and asked King Shrenik to sit on the ground, communicating the need to have humility in front of one's guru, in this case, the executioner. Once when a poor beggar decided to take diksha, people ridiculed him. Abhaykumar, knowing the true meaning of diksha, offered five precious jewels to those who would take the five great vows, but even in spite of the greed, not a single person could take even one vow. Thus, Abhaykumar showed that diksha involves more than simply asking for bhiksha. Even today, during Diwali we pray to be blessed with intellect like Abhaykumar's. Abhaykumar took diksha and became a higher level dev.
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