Jain Journal 1975 10

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

Page 67

92
JAIN JOURNAL
I am
I shall use more deadly weapons in my armoury. going to throw at him my deadly cobra, Chanda Kaushik. Come, my Chanda Kaushik, come. Kill this man, by your one deadly breath. [Goes in and brings a deadly snake] Here is my Chanda Kaushik! Come, parch this man with your venom, as the forest-fire consumes the entire forest. Today I am putting you to your biggest test. Girdle yourself so firmly round his neck that he gets strangulated, and then finish him by a single sting. Go, get on to his neck. [Throws the serpent round the neck of Mahavir Vardhaman ; but the snake rests there hanging loosely like a garland. Shulapani again goes round Vardhaman and examines the reptile from all angles] What, even you have failed to kill this man. It is most strange. You are notorious for turning even a tree into dead wood by your one single bite. But here you are just resting like a wreath of flowers. Damn yourself, Chanda Kaushik ! you have belied all my expectations! [Paces up and down in sheer disgust] I am sure this man knows his Mantras well; he has cast a spell on my Chanda Kaushik ; otherwise the poor creature would not lie so listless. He has lost all his stock of poison. Or else, Chanda Kaushik has betrayed me. Fie, unto thee. You have betrayed my confidence. You have failed in your test. Come out of that neck. I have no use for you there. [Takes out the snake from the neck of Mahavir Vardhaman and throws it on the ground] This man wants to test my powers. But I am not going to admit defeat at his hands. I am Shulapani. I will pierce his head with my spearhead. I am going to bring my spear. [As soon as he is about to walk in, the snake, lying on the ground, bites him. He looks at him pensively and groans] Oh, you have bitten me, instead! Is this the way, Chanda Kaushik, to compensate the man who has brought you up? So, I must first severe your head with my lance. [Tries to enter the monastery to bring his lance, but stumbles on the ground] Oh, what deadly poison! It has curdled my blood. What an irony ! My own pet should sting me! My whole body is in flames. Where was thy venom when thou wert couched on the neck of this man! [Tries to sit up, but again falls to the ground] I burn, I die! Save me! I never knew that the