Jain Stories 03

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

Page 29

MRIGASUNDARI
materialise A short time after this, a Jaina monk, Siddhartha by name, came to the city with a group of 500 monks and camped in the city park. People came to pay their homage and obeisance At the request of the queen, the king too called on the monk, attended his sermons and was very much inspired and influenced by the monk's stature and erudition There followed a long discussion, after which the king embraced the Jaina faith on his own inspiration It took no time for the king to become a follower of Jipa, practising restraints and penances scruplously and carefully
News has wings As the news of the king's conversion reached Amarpur, the princess was very happy Through her maid, she told her father of her desire to marry King Chandrasekhara Her father too was very happy and he sent his minister at once to Virpur to settle the marriage On an auspicious day, Chandrasekhara and Chandravalı were united as man and wife, and in course of time, to the joy and relief of everybody, the new queen gave birth to a son The prince was named Sajjankumar
Sajjankumar grew up to become a fine and accomplished lad. Within a short time, he acquired knowledge of all arts It was then decided to marry the prince with eight princesses, to be selected by the king himself in consultation with the two queens The selection was over and eight kings with their daughters arrived at Virpur There was a great joy everywhere But three days before the marriage, there befell a calamity which turned all joy into gloom During the night, the prince disappeared and no trace of him could be found anywhere, and in the absence of the prince, there could be no wedding It was a great problem, and to consider the situation, the kiog invited the eight princesses in a meeting Said he to them, 'Ladies' You are not yet married, and I give you leave to marry someone else of your choice The sudden disappearance of my son has been the