Jain Story Book

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 10

see his magnificent attractiveness, they should better come to the court when he sits on the throne properly dressed and adorned.
After getting ready the king came to the court with all the pomp and decoration and sat on the majestic throne. There was precious diamond studded crown on his head. Splendid canopy was hanging over his head and lovely girls were waving fans. He invited those Brahmins to come inside and to look at him. He no doubt looked immensely attractive; but his inner self was poisoned on account of his vanity about his splendor and handsomeness. Those people could make out the difference and moved their heads in disapproval. The king asked about the reason for that gesture. Then they disclosed their identity and said that his attractiveness was highly poisoned that time. The king was not inclined to believe that. At their suggestion he therefore spat in a corner. A fly came over it and immediately died. This was an eye opener for him. He realized that all the wealth and splendors are short lived and unreliable. He therefore decided to give up every thing. Soon after he placed his son on the throne and became a possessionless monk.
As monk he observed severe austerities and did not take care of the body Due to the unhygeinic environments he got leprosy, but he did not care for that. He had gained miraculous accomplishments by his spiritual pursuit but did not use any of them for curing the disease. Even Indra praised his sense of total detachment for the body. Once again Vijay and Vaijavant got skeptical. They came to Sanat in the guise of doctors and suggested that they could cure him by their expertise. Sanat replied that diseases are of two kinds, internal and external. He did not care for the external or physical one but was concerned about the internal disease of Karma that afflicted him since time immemorial. His sole concern was to get rid of that. If they could cure that disease, he was willing to undergo their treatment. Since they showed their helplessness in the matter, Sanat applied saliva on his diseased finger by putting it in the mouth and showed it to them. To their surprise the finger was cured of the disease. Thereupon they disclosed their identity and heartily praised Sanat for his true detachment.
Sanatkumar spent many years practicing austerity and penance. When the end was close, he adopted Anashan (Staying steadfast in the same position without taking food or drink). In the end
he attained heaven.
KING Meghrath and his justice
There is a place called Pundarikini in Mahavideh. Long back, king Ghanrath was ruling over there. He had two queens named Priyamati and Manorama. Both of them got pregnant and in due course each of them gave birth to a son. Priyamati's son was named Meghrath and Manorama's son was named Dridhrath. Both the boys started growing and turned out to be brave, bold and handsome. As they attained adult age, they attracted attention of every one. At some distance there was another place called Sumandirpur. Its king Nihatshatru had three daughters named Priyamitra, Manorama and Sumati. They were very attractive. As they grew up, Nihatshatru was concerned about finding suitable matches for them. He heard about the sons of Ghanrath and decided to offer his daughters in marriage. He sent his special emissary to Pundarikini with the proposal of first two daughters for Meghrath and of the third for Dridhrath. Ghanrath willingly accepted the proposals.
Thereupon the emissary requested Ghanrath to send his sons to Sumandirpur for the wedding ceremony. As Ghanrath was agreeable, both the princes set upon the journey to Sumandirpur along with selected band of warriers. They had to pass through the territory of another king named Surendradatta. He would not allow them to pass through his land. The wedding party had