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730
JAINA STORIES
home Meanwhile, the report had reached the king that one of his pet monkeys had been killed by a certain hunter, and that too not by a proper weapon but by a club, which was against the law of the land The hunter was at once taken a prisoner and produced before the king He was first tortured and was then being taken to the execution ground, with the king coming in the rear. Just then the tiger appeared again and cautioned the king not to execute the hunter Said be, 'Sure 1 The sins committed by this wretch are so heirous and serious that anyone punishing him will also share his sins It's more appropriate that he be left to his own destiny' The king was startled at these words and requested the tiger to give a full account about the man, which the tiger was reluctant to do himself. He directed the king to an acharya who, he sud, was not far from there and who was a man with great knowledge and power
"The king spared the hunter's life but ordered him to leave the city at once He then looked for the acharya and was soon before him Said he, 'Bhante i Where is the monkey gone? 'In heaven, of course,' was the reply. *And where will the hunter go after death', the king asked. •Where else but to hell, said the monk. 'Those who are ungrateful, cruel, sinful, malicious and hard-hearted, for them hell is the right place,' To the king's enquiry about the tiger, the acharya said, “That was a divine person in the skin of a tiger who came down to witness the monkey's behaviour because the monkey is destined to have a place in heaven While in heaven, the god had himself heard a reference to that effect and came down to see what it was that would earn for the monkey a place in the celestial
region'"
Concluding his story, Kunchika said,
"Oh monk 1 You are like the hunter Your ingratitude brings back to my memory that incident and my soul silently weeps"
