Jain Stories 01

Author(s): Mahendramuni, K C Lalwani
Publisher: A B Jain Shwetambar Terapanth Samaj

Page 77

MUNIPATI
53
acan save thee. If ye doeth not what I ask ye to do, if thy stock be too precious to thee that ye cannot give it up, then I must have thee Either must I have Hark ye???
Tilabhatta agreed to surrender the oilseed stock in exchange for his life Said he,
"Take ye my stock of oilseeds, ye goddess, and spare my life If I live, with thy blessings, I can build up stocks again"
'But then ask not anyone about the stock, I say, mention them not to anyone. I have accepted 'em all. Thou art now out of dangar.”
Having thus achieved her purpose, the lady returned to the place where she had discarded her clothes She had then a thorough wash in a nearby pool and was dressed again Now it so happened that there was a cremation ground not very far from that place and a dead body was on the burning pyre. In the glow emitted from the fire, the lady saw a monk standing, and became apprehensive that this fellow - might have been an eye-witness of all her vile deeds. Lest
he should give exposure to her character to the people of rthat city, the lady at once thought out a plan to safeguard her position and became ready to perpetrate a dreadful act She picked up a burning log from the pyre and hurled it at
the monk She hesitated not even for once to do such a wcruel thing. Then she started back and reached her home.
Soon the screens around the monk caught fire and the monk's body was roasted. It could no longer remain in the standing pesture but dropped on the ground, but he was still fixed in meditation and equanimity. Though intensely? pained in the body, he didn't allow this infliction to touch
his soul, nor did he permit any passion to take possession of Chim
For the rest of the night, Bodhibhatta had no peace The incident haunted him like a nightmare and gave him no rest. "He told his wife in the morning,