Jain Story Book

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 36

In times of Lord Mahavir, Pratishthäpur was a city on sea coast. There lived a trader named Dhanasar. By his wife Shilavati he had 4 sons named Dhanadatta, Dhanadev, Dhanachand and Dhanyakumar. The first three were selfish and unintelligent, while Dhanyakumar who was fondly called Dhannä was smart, bright, intelligent and attractive. Dhanasar loved him very much. The other three were therefore feeling jealous of the younger brother. Dhannä was lucky too; whatever venture he undertook, turned out to be successful. Once a ship came to Pratishthapur with lot of merchandise. The owner was in urgent need of selling the merchandise. He therefore sent a message to his regular customer. As it was however the time of that customer's lunch and afternoon nap, he deferred it for the next day to go to the port. Dhannä happened to go to the port and saw that the merchandise was available at low price. He therefore instantly contracted to buy it. When the regular trader went to the ship the next day, he was disappointed to learn that the merchandise was already sold. He needed it any way. He had therefore to buy the same from Dhannä who could make fancy profit from the transaction. Dhannä bought valuable jewelry from that profit and presented the same to his sisters in law, who were very much pleased with the young brother in law.
On another occasion Dhannä saw shining sand outside some premises. He could make out that it was Tejanturi and was very valuable for certain purposes. The original trader who had bought it, had died and his sons were not aware of the use of sand. They had therefore dumped it outside. Dhannä asked them whether they would like to sell it. They replied that it was of no use to them and he was at liberty to pick it up. Dhannä did accordingly and stored it in the warehouse. His brothers considered this act of Dhannä as foolish and were repeatedly telling Dhanasar to throw it away. Once however a trader came to Pratishthapur in search of Tejanturi. As he could not find it anywhere, he requested the king to help him in getting it. Dhannä was a friend of the prince. When Dhannä heard from him that some trader was looking for Tejanturi, he offered to supply it. The trader willingly paid fancy price for the sand and Dhannä became a wealthy man of the place. He again bought fancy gifts for every one in the family. His father was so pleased and very much appreciated the insight of Dhannä. But that made his brothers all the more jealous.
Getting sick of his brothers' jealousy, Dhannä once decided to migrate to some other place to try his luck. He therefore left the place leaving everything for his brothers. He travelled on and on and reached Ujjayini which was being ruled by Chandapradyot. By his intelligence and good luck he got lot of money and soon became the right hand man of the king. Meanwhile his brothers had lost everything that he had left. His parents therefore came to Ujjayini in search of work along with the three sons and their wives. Dhannä invited all of them to stay with him. His brothers however could not appreciate his magnanimity and again started envying him. In disgust, Dhannä once again left everything to them and proceeded towards Räjgruhi. On the way while he was meditating on the bank of a river, he gained Chintamani Ratna, which is a jewel that fulfills all desires. Equipped with that he came to Räjgruhi.
When Dhannä reached Räjgruhi, he felt very tired. He therefore decided to take rest on the outskirt of the city in a park. It was owned by Kusumpal but was deserted, because all its trees and plants had gone dry. 'How nice this park would have been, if it was green?' Dhannä thought and by virtue of his Chintamani jewel the entire plant life got revived. People passing by were surprised to see the park green. Kusumpal also came there and noticed that the miracle had happened on account of Dhanna's presence. He was pleased with that lucky young man. He had only one daughter named Kusum. He thought that Dhannä сould be appropriate match for her. He therefore took Dhannä to his place and got him married to his daughter.
Shrenik, the king of Räjgruhi, had an elephant named Sechanak. It was known all over the country for its boldness and extraordinary performance. Shrenik was very fond of it. Once that elephant went mad. Its keepers were unable to bring it back to control. Abhayakumar was in captivity of Chandapradyot during that time. The King therefore felt very much helpless. As Dhannä learnt about the problem, he volunteered and brought the elephant in control with the help of his Chintamani jewel. The king was very pleased with him. He was in need of a capable