Jain Story Book

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 74

Having noticed that the caravan had, meanwhile, been far ahead of him, he rode on his horse and sped it fast to get with his colleagues. Before however, he could reach the caravan, the front right leg of the horse got entangled in a hole. Gundhar experienced such a rude jerk that he could hardly maintain his balance. Gundhar got down to release the leg of his horse from the hole. As he dug the area surrounding the hole, he could notice that the soil beneath was shining like gold. By way of curiosity, he dug there a little deeper and to his surprise, he noticed very valuable treasure inside. Remembering his vow again, he did not even touch the treasure and proceeded ahead on the horse back.
The diamond ring and the valuable treasure were produced there by Sur's miraculous power. His intention was to create the sense of temptation in the mind of Gundhar so as to swerve him from his vow. As these tempting devices, however, failed to dissuade Gundhar, Sur decided to bring forth adversities so as to test the capacity and willingness of Gundhar to face that for the sake of his vow.
The forest area was now over and Gundhar could see a vast stretch of open land in front of him. By that time the caravan had reached out of his sight. thereupon, he sped his horse too fast in order to reach the caravan. After a while however, the horse got too much exhausted and tumbled down. Gundhar immediately got down to figure out what had gone wrong with the horse. He was shocked to notice that the poor animal was too much tired and was getting breathless. He could see that his dear horse was on the point of dying on account of over-exertion. Gundhar became very sorry for that. He very much regretted that he, himself, would be responsible for killing his horse by subjecting it to too much fatigue. He heartily repented for that mistake and earnestly wished that some sort of miracle would save his horse. He sincerely wanted to atone for the sin that he had committed by speeding his horse too much. In that mood, he decided within his heart that he would give all his wealth, if any one could save his horse from the impending death.
No miracle however occurred and Gundhar had to leave his horse dead. By that time the caravan had gone too far away and he could not see any way to reach it on foot. It was an arid tract and sun was shining right over his head. He got very thirsty and clamored for water. But how to get water in that arid area? He felt as if his throat was getting choked on account of dryness and thought that he would not survive without getting water. In desperation, he proceeded in search of water, but it was very hard for him to walk. With considerable difficulty he went ahead not knowing where he was going. After a while he noticed a lonely tree at a little distance. He felt much relieved and hopefully went towards the tree. To his pleasamt surprise, he saw there a water bag hanging on a branch of that tree. He felt that God had come to his help at last and joyfully stretched his hand towards the bag.
But then he remembered his vow. How could he take water without the permission of the owner of the bag? He called aloud for its owner so as to seek his permission. There was however no reply. As he called again and again, a parrot that was sitting on a branch of the tree, spoke out in human voice and said that the bag belonged to a wood cutter who had been to collect the wood. The parrot also said that the woodcutter would not come back soon and Gundhar could safely quench his thirst during his absence. True to his vow, Gundhar however declined to drink the water without obtaining permission of the owner. For a moment, he closed his eyes in silent prayer to keep him firm in maintaining his vow even at the cost of his life.
When he reopened his eyes, he saw that there was neither the tree nor the parrot. Instead, he saw the heavenly being Sur with gleaming face. Sur said that he had doubts about the capacity of Gundhar to observe the restraint of Adattadan and had tried to test the same. It was he who had produced the diamond ring and the valuable treasure on his way. His intention was to tempt him. He was very glad to notice that Gundhar did not try to grab either of them. He had then created adversities in the form of the death of the horse, disappearance of the caravan, arid waterless