Jain Stories 02

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

Page 58

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JAINA STORIES
Invitation A note to this effect was taken by his secretaryTamrachuda, who was in attendance with writing materiali ready at hand "
To make the story still more fascinating, he added,
"Then Death introduced me to the members of his royal' household His parents Surya and Sanjnavatı, his principal queen Dhumorna, his brother Sani, his sister Jamuna, were all present They were very kind to me and gave me company for several hours Then I was shown round the capital city I saw so many things in such a short time that
it is difficult to recount them all
"When after this it was time for me to return, Death was gracious enough to send through me immediate invitation to Your Majesty, the chief minister and other dignitaries of the state to see him in bis own citadel He was keen to bestow on Your Majesty much wealth and the hands of his daughter He offered me very valuable gifts of robes and ornaments and hundreds of dancing girls, of which I accepted only very few Death was insistent to make me accept at least one dancing girl, the very best of the lot, To guide me in my return journey, and to convey a formal invitation to Your Majesty on behalf of himself, Death has deputed with me this envoy of his own
"
As previously arranged, the envoy now came forward and repeated the invitation He requested the king to honour it without delay. The courtiers knew not what to make of it, but at last with the consent of all, the king accepted the invitation
At the king's order, a big pyre was set ablaze outside the city around which were assembled the king, his chief minister and other ministers, high dignitaries of the state and the citizens Now, who was to plunge first into the flame and be the first to reach the citadel of Death? After much consideration, the chief minister became the recipient of this signal honour and was soon turned into a pile of ashes. Next was the king's turn As he proceeded towards the pyre, Haribala could no longer contain himself.