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170
JAIN RAMAYAN
“Why not? Surely. I will tell you, listen !"
"Once there was a magnificent city by name Shuktimati on the banks of the river Sarayu. King Abhichandra was ruling over the city. Vasu was his son. The king possessed boundless wealth and the kingdom was prosperous. He was a man of great intelligence; he possessed extraordinary abilities and was an expert in the art of administration. When the prince Vasu passed through the phase of boyhood and entered the phase of youth, the king sent him to be educated in the Ashram of an acharya by name Kshirkadamba. I too was a student of that acharya at that time. While carrying out studies there, the Prince Vasu and Parvat, the son of the teacher became intimate friends. We were carrying out our studies with politeness, intelligence and diligence respecting the limits of propriety. The atmosphere in the Ashram was happy and delightful. The Ashram which was surrounded by various kinds of green plants and trees would fascinate anyone. Nearby, the river Sarayu flowed. Its water was pellucid and serene. The Ashram was surrounded by the banks of the river, magnificent Ashoka trees, mango-groves, huge, vast and wide-branching banyan trees; dark shadows of neem trees, and green and smiling fields extending to great distances. The atmosphere of the Ashram was always lively with the animals of the forest which kept playing about in the area. The Gurudev Kshirakadamba taught his pupils affectionately all knowledge that would bring them welfare in this world, and in the other world.
Some years passed like the water in the river.
Once, we happened to be sleeping along with our teacher on the roof of the Ashram. Since we had studied hard throughout the day, we fell into deep sleep as soon as we went to bed. But our Gurudev lay awake on his bed. At that time, two Munis happened to be traversing through the sky. Seeing that we were asleep, they began conversing :
“Of these three pupils, one will go to heaven; but the other two will go to hell”.
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