Jain Journal 1972 01

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

Page 18

98
accompanied by his full retinue passed by his side on his way to Mahavira. Seeing the royal monk Prasannacandra one of his generals, named Durmukha, said to his colleague, "This monk is a fool. He has yoked his son, who is still a minor to bear the burden of the kingdom and has himself renounced the world. His ministers have now conspired with the enemy-king to deprive the minor of his kingdom."
JAIN JOURNAL
When Prasannacandra, heard these words, his mind was full of anger and hatred towards the ministers and the enemies. Standing even in meditation-posture Prasannacandra reflected that if he were there, he would have punished them. With such reflections Prasannacandra began to fight in his mind.
Meanwhile, king Srenika, reached Lord Mahavira's samavasarana and after bowing to the Lord, asked him, "If the royal sage, Prasannacandra would die just now while he is engaged in meditation, where would he take his birth ?"
Mahavira replied, "He will go to the seventh hell." King Srenika was stunned by the answer. To verify whether he had heard the Lord properly, he again asked the same question after a while. Mahavira replied this time, "If Prasannacandra dies just now, he will attain the highest heaven called Sarvarthasiddha." King Srenika was yet more confounded. Then resolving Srenika's confusion the Lord said, "Don't be confused. It is the mental attitude which really counts. When you asked me the first question, Prasannacandra's mind was engaged in the fight against his ministers and enemies. Due to high intensity of anger, he would have certainly gone to the seventh hell, if he would have died at that time. But, at the time of your second question, state of his mind had totally changed. He had recovered himself from the sinful thinking and again established himself in spiritual meditation." No sooner had the Lord completed his sentence than the god's began to beat the drums proclaiming Prasannacandra's attainment of omniscience.22
According to the Caupannamahāpuruşacariyam, Indra once praised Srenika saying, "There is none equal to Srenika in religious devotion and faith." One of the gods decided to test the veracity of the statement and at the end of his test when he found that Srenika was indeed a staunch devotee of the Nirgrantha religion, he felt happy. Pleased with his devotion, the god gave Srenika a gift of necklace of eighteen lines which
22 Trisastisalakapurusacaritram, book 10, canto 9, vv. 21-50.