Jain Journal 1973 04

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

Page 13

APRIL, 1973
During the night when Sramana Bhagawan Mahavira was removed from the womb of Brahmani Devananda of the Jalandhara line to the womb of Ksatriyani Trisala of the line of Vasistha, during that night, the chamber in which Ksatriyani Trisala lay was, in its interiors, decorated with frescoes; in the exteriors, (it was) white-washed, clean and shining; with the centre of the brilliant ceiling depicted with fine paintings; the floor perfectly level and well-marked (with svastika and other auspicious marks); the darkness dispelled by jewels and precious stones; (the chamber) decorated with heaps of pleasant, fragrant and fresh flowers of multifarious colours and delighted by the curling, scented fumes of black aloe, Kundurukka and Turuska, as if (the chamber had been turned into) a pot of scented incense; with a couch having a matress of a full length, with pillows at head and foot, elevated at the two ends, with hollo in the middle, soft like sand on the bank of the Ganga, covered with a sheet of ornamented linen, with a well-worked towel to wrap, covered with red mosquito curtains, delightful to the touch like fur, cotton or butter, besprinkled with fine and scented flowers and powder. On such a couch lay she, half-asleep and halfawake, and at the confluence of the prior and posterior halves of the night, dreamt the following noble,... till fortunate, fourteen great dreams and woke up. They are an elephant, an ox, a lion, anointment, a garland, the moon, the sun, an ensign, a jar, a lotus lake, a sea, a celestial abode, a heap of gems and a burning flame. 32
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1. Then Ksatriyani Trisala saw in her first dream an auspicious elephant, possessing good marks, very powerful, with beautiful thighs and four tusks, whiter than a vast water-less cloud, or a heap of pearls, or an ocean of milk, or the beams of the moon, or the foam of waves or the silvery mountain, with its temples perfumed with scented fluid attracting bees, equalling in its physical dimensions the great Airavata of the king of gods, trumpeting deep and fine like the thunder of a large raincloud. 33
2. Then (she saw) a tame, lucky bull, with complexion whiter than a heap of white lotus petals, illuminating all around by the diffusion of a glory of light, with a lovely, resplendent, beautiful hump displaying in all its grace; with a frame looking delightful and covered with fine, clean and tender hairs, with beauty emanating from well-set and wellformed muscles, with body proportioned and fine; with two beautiful horns, thick, round, gracious and fine, pointed at the tip and greased; with teeth equal, white and bright; with face indicating innumerable good qualities and auspicious marks. 34