Jain Legend Vol 2

Author(s): Hastimal Maharaj, Shuganchand Jain, P S Surana
Publisher: Hastimal Maharaj Shugan C Jain P S Surana

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The maid who is a master in the art of deception and beguile, somehow manifested the youth in front of the queen. Lalit mga and the queen, without any fear, indulged themselves in sensual pleasure. One day the king was informed about the illicit affair of his queen and Lalit mga. He started to investigate the truth in this matter. The shrewd maid got to know about it. So as to save herself and her queen, the maid pushed Lalit mga in to hollow cesspool (a well in which dirty water is poured). Confined and stuck in the filthy, foul-smelling well, Lalit mga felt remorse about his frivolity and stupidity and started thinking, "Oh Lord! If for once I am able to come out of this predicament by some means, I will once and for all give up these sensual pleasures, whose repercussions bring nothing but agony”.
Taking pity on Lalit mga, the maid would throw sufficient leftover food into the well. Lalit mga would eat that food and drink the filthy water from the well and quench his pamgs of hunger and thirst.
Soon rainy season set in and filled the well with water. Some workers opened the conduit of the well in order to clean it. Immediately, under the forceful pressure of the gushing water, Lalit mga was swept out of the drain and landed in a far-off corner. Being in the covered and filthy well for a long period of time, Lalit mga fell unconscious when exposed suddenly to the fresh air. Seeing him unconscious near the well, many people gathered around. When she heard of the unconscious youth, even Lalit mga's wet-nurse arrived there. She immediately recognised her long lost Lalit mga and brought him back home. After prolonged treatment, Lalit mga recovered back to health with great difficulty”.
Concluding the story of Lalit mga, Jamb Kum ra said, “Prabhava! Lalit mga in this story symbolises the mortal soul; the sight of the queen is human birth; the maid is desire, the access into the palace, fulfillment of desire and the entry into the filthy well are the signifiers of the stay in the womb- the leftover food stands for the food eaten and digested by the mother; emerging out of the well resembles childbirth and services rendered by the wet-nurse depicts the nourishment for the body that facilitates in ripening karma. Explaining thus, Jamb Kum ra asked
abhava, "Now let me know Prabhava, in case the queen once again invites Lalit mga to her palace, will he accept her invitation”?
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