Jain Legend Vol 2

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

Page 224

There are famous anecdotes about crya Sidhasena Diw kara's erudition and his miracles. One of them says that Sidhasena secured a magic leaf from M nsthambha (pillar of pride) in Citrak a that had two charms. With the first charm Hemasiddhividy, one can procure as much gold as one desires, and with the second charm, sasarpavidy, innumerable soldiers can be generated like mustard seeds. With these two mantras in hand, Sidhasena went to Devap la the King of K rm rpura and with the help of his magic charms made him victorious in the battle against Vijayvarm. Out of gratitude King Devap la became a great devotee of crya Sidhasena and as a royal tribute bestowed upon him the title 'Diwak ra", would visit him everyday and offer him salutations. Impressed by the devotion and sincerity of the king, even
c rya Sidhasena used to go to the king, sitting in a palanquin.
Human mentality is such that it gets carried away by emotions and
c rya Sidhasena was no exception to this. Carried away by the devotion of the king and devotees of high rank, he became languid towards his ascetic life and conduct. He spent most of his time in eating, drinking, relaxing and sleeping. He could not even encourage his disciples to practice the doctrines. The author of Prabamdha Ko describes the situation in these words, “If the teacher continues sleeping inconsiderate of the path he is treading on, the disciples would surely follow suit. They too mimicking their teacher were leading a carefree and comfortable life - eating, drinking and sleeping. Thus, competing with each other in sleeping, the ascetics pushed salvation behind".
When V ddhav d came to know about the fame and also the deterioration of Sidhasena, he was pained and to literally and figuratively rouse him from his deep slumber, handed over the responsibility of the Gaccha to the worthy monks and alone headed towards Kurm rpura. There he joined as one of the palanquin-bearers and carried Sidhasen in the palanquin, along with others.
Seeing the faltering walk of the old palanquin-bearer, Sidhasena asked him, “Are you feeling sore in your shoulders being bogged down by the intense weight?" V ddhav d replied, “This afflicted pain (of the shoulder) is not more than his inflicted pain (of disgrace)”.
Hearing the familiar voice, Sidhasena was alarmed and started contemplating, "Who could this monk be alluding my fault? Is he by any
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