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MUNIPATI
143
-Kunchika said, 'Who was this Namuchi and what happened to him ? The son started,
“During the age of Muni Subrata, there reigned in "Ujjain a king named Dharmasena who was modest, unassuming and pious Namuchi was his minister. He was a man of great intellect, but at the same time, he was crafty, unscruplous and averse to the Jaina path, Once Muni Subrata came to the city with his monks, and the king came to pay his homage and obeisance, Namuchi was also present in the assembly. Namuchi aired his atheistic views in the assembly and drew a monk, Khullaka by name, into a bitter controversy, The minister was soon cornered by the monk and ridiculed by the people
"Namuchi took this insult to heart, and set out one night with a sword in his hand to kill the monk who had defeated him As he reached the gate of the monk's shelter, he was challenged by Sasana Devi who fixed him on the spot Even when it was morning, everybody saw Namuchi fixed at the gate, with a sword in his hand People had now no doubt as to why he had come there and they censured him openly. But Namuchi himself bad no escape till he tendered a public apology to Sasana Devi and the monks This he did and obtained his release After this humiliation however, he could no longer remain there and reached Hastinapur
"Padmottara was the king of Hastinapur at this time He had two queens, Jwala and Lakshmi, and Jwala was a good sravika too She had two sons, Vishnukumar and Mahapadma, both of whom were fine and accomplished young men The king was now thinking of abdicating in favour of the elder son, but as Vishnukumar felt no attraction for the kingdom and had himself decided to renounce the world, Mahapadma was named crown-prince to succeed the king Just at this time, Namuchi reached this kingdom and managed to get the minister's post
