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382
JAIN RAMAYAN
"Ah! What a pledge did he take! ..
""
"After having taken the vows and after having made the pledge Vajrakarna returned to Dashangapur. Besides ruling over his kingdom he also observed the principles of the Shravakdharma but though he lived like this, an unrealized and mysterious fear... anxiety filled his heart."
"What was that unknown fear ?" Lakshman asked.
"He feared Simhodhar, the King of Avanti."
"But why did he fear Simhodhar ?" Sita asked him eagerly.
"Noble lady! There was a reason for it. He thought, "I have taken a vow before the great muni that I will not bow my head to anyone except the Vitragdev; so I cannot bow to King Simhodhar also and Simhodhar is not a devotee of the Paramatma. He would be extremely angry with me and there would arise enmity between us. He will surely take revenge against me for insulting him. As a result of this, hostility would increase between him and me. Moreover, he is a great hero and a warrior of extraordinary valour and I am nothing before him. His strength and abilities are greater than mine. If I antagonize him, I will have to face defeat, disgrace and death." Thus, he was filled with countless fears and doubts. He began to think of the way of escaping from that calamity. At once, he was elated when a new idea flashed to him. He got the image of Shri Muni Suvrataswami inscribed on his ring. Later, whenever he met King Simhodhar or whenever he went to the court, he saluted the image on the ring so that the king might think that he had saluted him. Actually, whenever Vajrakarna saluted the ring, Simhodhar thought that he saluted him. Actually, Vajrakarna used to salute only the image of the ring.
Discretion is the better part of valour. We should oppose a strong man not with strength but with cleverness. For some time, Vajrakarna managed the situation cleverly but this drama could not continue for long. At last, the truth came to light. The King of Avanti found out what was happening. It happened this way. One day, some villainous person who was a bitter
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