Jain Story Book

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 83

beloved was unchaste. Without waiting for verifying the fact, he decided to punish her for the supposed infidelity. He instantly turned back and calling his trusted attendants, he gave them orders to take Kalävati out of the boundaries of his state, to severe her hands and to bring the same back along with the bracelets.
The attendants trembled within their hearts to listen to the king. They were however required to carry out the orders of the king without raising any question. Therefore they went to the palace and requested Kalävati to get on the chariot. She thought that the king might have thought to take her on a pleasure trip, so she gladly got on the chariot. As she Occupied her seat, the attendants rode the chariot towards the forest. When the chariot came to the bank of a river outside the domain of Shankh, they requested Kalävati to get down. Then they told her that the king was displeased with her and had ordered them to bring her hands. In token of her love for the king, she stretched her hands that were severed with a sharp knife that they had brought. That caused lot of bleeding. One of the attendants however knew about the healing property of some herbs that were available there in plenty. He applied to her arms the liquor of those herbs. When the bleeding stopped, the attendants rode back to the city with the hands of Kalävati leaving her alone in the forest.
The fate of Kalävati had thus taken a big plunge. From the crest of the heavenly happiness she had come down to a very miserable position where there was no one to help her and being handless, she could not help herself. On the top of that she was pregnant and the delivery was not far off. She could not make out what to do and patiently bore the pain while reciting Navkar Mantra. But the pain of the severance of hands suddenly led to the delivery pain and soon after she gave birth to a lovely son. But how was she to handle the baby without the hands? She lamented the fate of the baby who could not even be cleared of the umbilical cord. Luckily a forest girl happened to pass by that time. She saw the plight of Kalävati. Without thinking for a moment she rushed towards her and helped in the natal work. Then cleaning the baby with water from the river, the girl put the boy in the lap of Kalavati.
But how was Kalävati to hold the boy to her breast without having hands? The only way for her was to reconcile to her fate. From her childhood she had been deeply religious as would have been seen from the type of questions that she had put at the time of her Swayamvar. As such she believed that the misery that she was undergoing could have been only the consequence of her evil Karma. She therefore decided to bear it patiently while reciting Navkär Mantra all the time.
There are some heavenly beings known as Shäsandev and Shäsan devi who usually come to the help of true devotees in times of distress and adversities. One such Shasandevi came to know about the plight of Kalävati. She immediately presented herself and said to Kalävati not to worry. So saying, she gave her new hands. Kalävati felt highly gratified to get that timely help. She heartily thanked the Shäsandevi and picking up her son, she held him to her breasts. Thereafter the Shäsandevi took Kalävati to her abode along with the baby boy.
Now Kalävati was happy once again. But she could not forget the misery that she had faced for a short while. During that time she had realized that happiness as well as unhappiness are very fickle and transitory and no sensible person can rely on that. What she had actually experienced was a sort of warning. Therefore instead of calling her husband to that place, she decided to stay away from the attachment as far as possible. She made up her mind to renounce the worldly life as soon as her son grew up and in the meanwhile to pass the time in religious activities.
Now let us see what happened in Shankhpuri. Leaving Kalävati handless in the forest, those attendants came back and presented to the king the severed hands with the bracelets. As he looked at the bracelets, he could read the name of Jaysen carved thereon. He could thus make out that it was Kalävati's own brother who had sent the bracelets and he had committed a blunder in doubting her chastity. He could also realize how sinful it was to punish his innocent wife so severely. He shuddered to think about the miserable fate of the pregnant Kalävati in the most