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JINADATTA
In the city of Pottanapura, there lived a wealthy merchant named Jipadatta whose wife's Dame was Purna He was not merely a follower of the Jina path but also a great doner and considered any chance to make charity as an omen of good luck One day, an acharya had come to the city, when Jinadatta visited him in the company of - other fellow citizens and accepted the vow to fast every alternate day and say pratikramana twice daily,
The goddess of fortune is the most fickle and least dependable, and no one can be sure as to when she comes in and when she moves out. Jinadatta was a man of wealth and affluence, but with a turn in his fortune, he became poor and could not have even the barest of subsistence One day his wife suggested that it might be worthwhile to go to her parents, borrow some money and start business afresh The idea did not appeal much to Jinadatta, but as his wife was insistent, very reluctantly he agreed and started on a fine day Purna gave him a packet of fried chick-pea powder for his meal on the way.
The trip did not disturb the merchant's vow to fast every alternate day The day he started was for him a day of fasting. On the second day, at noon, be sat down on the bank of a tank and diluted some chick-pea powder in a cup of water Then wasbing himself he sat down to break' bis fast Thought he, "When at home, I take my meal only after giving a portion of it to some pious seeker But where do I get a seeker here ?" Luckily, however, his thoughtprocess worked, and he saw a monk coming in that direction The monk's body was very lean and emaciated because of the frequent practice of month-long fasts, and even on that day the monk had come to seek food after one such fast Jinadatta bowed before bim and prayed that the monk might partake a portion of his meal. The prayer was accepted.
