________________
Indra's Exit
"Oh! How beautiful the name is! He who has united his life with Nirvan is a Nirvan Samgam. Beautiful! Really beautiful!"
241
Giving a gift to the guard; he sent him away. Then, he got ready to go and meet the Muni. He thought that going alone would be proper from all points of view, because he wanted to discuss with the enlightened Muni the problem that was agitating him.
When he entered the garden, he found the great Muni seated in meditation, at a clean place. He was carrying out meditation in that place of solitude. Indra swayed with delight on seeing him. The face of the Muni was radiant with many great virtues that seemed to be shining through it. His unexampled spiritual eflulgence was beaming forth through his face. Bowing to him with devotion, he sat at the feet of the great Muni.
"Oh lord! Is there any solution to my problems?" Indra asked him after his meditation was over.
"Oh king! Surely they can be solved", the Muni Nirvansangam said in a voice that was more majestic than the roll of the ocean.
"Man attains happiness; he has also to suffer anguish. What is the secret of this ?"
"Dear son! There is no great secret behind it. Happiness and sorrow result from the Punya (merit) and Papa (sins) committed by man in his previous lives."
"Dear lord! If the humiliation that Ravan inflicted upon me is the result of the sins I committed in my earlier lives, kindly tell me when and in which Janma I committed those sins".
Jain Education International
The atmosphere in the garden was permeated with the sweet fragrance of flowers. Birds were singing melodiously. The atmosphere was reverberating with the voices of the Sadhus who were carrying out scriptural studies. Within a few moments
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org