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SURASENA AND MAHASENA
81
The Acharya gave the following account :
“In the land of Bharata, there is a cily named Manipur There lived a warrior named Madan who was an ardent follower of the Jina path He had two sons, Bhira and Vira One day, on their way to the park, the two brothers came across a monk lying senseless on the public thoroughfare On enquiry, they were told by the people that the monk was in kayotsarga, when he was bitten by a venomous snake The snake had escaped into its hole
On hearing this, Vira said,
'You were so many people here Wby didn't you kill the snake ?
Bhira—-'If the snake has escaped because of the support of his favourable karma, why do you yourself use such sinful expression about the slaughter of the snake ?
Vira-But don't you see, the spake has committed a crime in biting a monk It deserved to be killed. I guess, that would have been an act of righteousness, not sin."
"Now, Surasena, "continued the monk,' that Dhira is reborn in you, and Vira in your brother As he had spoken sinful words about the killing of the snake on that occasion, and did not rightly withdraw them, he suffered from the boil on the tongue. You yourself cured him with the help of the holy namokara"
The account was over It awakend the memory of previous birth in the two brothers They pow resolved to cut the tie of mundane life, and so they did, to join the order of monks and make a full use of their buman birth.
J-6
