Jain Journal 1967 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 13

144
the embryo of the Ksatriyani in the womb of the Brahmani Devananda. And having so done, he returned whence he came. With the high swift movement of a god he passed over oceans and continents and reached the heavens and the throne of Sakra, and reported the fulfilment of the command. This befell on the eighty-third day after conception, in the middle of the night.
JAIN JOURNAL
On that night the Ksatriyani lay on her couch, twixt sleeping and waking, in her bower, whereof the walls were decorated with pictures, and the ceiling painted; the chamber was fragrant with the scent of flowers and perfumes, and the couch was covered with a mattress of a man's length, with pillows at head and foot, raised on both sides and hollow in the middle, covered with a cloth of figured linen, hung with red mosquito nets, and furnished with all the comforts of a bed, such as flowers and sandal powder. Then there came to her the fourteen auspicious and delightful dreams that the Brahmaṇi Devananda had formerly dreamed, to wit: a great lucky elephant, marked with auspicious signs, and four-tusked; a lucky bull, whiter than the petals of the white lotus, sleek and well-proportioned, foreboding innumerable happy qualities; a playful beautiful lion, whiter than a heap of pearls-his tail waved, and his beautiful tongue came out of his mouth like a shoot of beauty; Sri, the goddess of beauty, seated on a lotus, laved by attendant elephants; a garland of mandara flowers hanging down from the firmament, incomparably fragrant, and haunted by swarms of bees; the moon, white as the milk of cows, or as a silver cup; the great red sun, whose thousand rays obscure the lusture of all other lights; a green flag, fastened to a golden staff, with a tuft of soft and waving peacock feathers, a full vase of gold, filled with water-lilies; a lake of lotuses, resorted to by swans and cranes and ducks, pleasing to heart and eye; the ocean of milk, beauteous as Laksmi's breast-a splendid and a pleasant spectacle as its waters tossed in moving, ever-changing, excessively high waves, traversed by porpoises and whales; a heavenly mansion of a thousand and eight columns, decked with gold and gems, hung with pearl garlands and decorated with various pictures, filled with music like the sound of heavy rain, perfumed delightfully and full of light; a heap of splendid jewels, high as Meru, illumining the very firmament; and a smokeless, cracking fire, flaming high as if to scorch the very heavens.
From these auspicious, happy dreams the Ksatriyānī Trisala awoke, and all the hair on her body rose up in joy. She rose from her couch, and neither hasty nor trembling, but with the gait of a royal swan, she sought the couch of the Ksatriya Siddhartha, and spoke to him with