Jaina Method Of Curing

Author(s): Manju Jain
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 10

INTRODUCTION
Dear Friends,
I am going to share my story of getting into chanting of Bhaktamar Stotra and knowing the powers of Bhaktamar shlokas with their Riddhi and Mantras. I never in my dreams thought of entering this giant field of mystic powers. Since my childhood my Mother Smt. Manorama jain would chant this Stotra whenever anybody will fall sick and the person will recover from his disease. We saw so many people coming to learn mantras from her. She used to use our Holy Book Jinvani to predict future of people and it would come true. All these deeds she did just to help people. As our family was big joint family and all auspicious occasions an Akhand path of Bhaktamar was kept for 24 hours and we all cousins use to wait eagerly to chant whole night in different laya/ rhythm on mike. It was very interesting program. We all of us did not know Sanskrit but we learnt Bhaktamar by playing LP record of Bhaktamar Stotra in Sanskrit and kept seeing the book and learnt it by heart. Everyday we use to read all 48 shlokas by singing in different tones in Temple, our friends use to joke that yes the way you are chanting it, it will be over by evening. But we use to enjoy doing this. After the Akhand Path there was Havan with Fire and obliminum and all Ahutis/offerings of Mantra and Riddhi were given to Fire God. The Panditji/ Priest use to explain that by chanting this Shloka-Snake can be controlled etc. and we cousins would look at each other and sarcastically smile and again ask about the powers of Shlokas. He uses to explain by chanting this Shloka Fire can extinguished etc.
Today when I have experimented these shlokas I saw that whatever. The holy priest said was so true. Once a small snake entered my house and servants started screaming, I said do not kill the snake and get milk for him and I started chanting the 45th Shloka, by the time they brought milk snake had already left. My hand was still on my heart chanting Shloka. The amazing power of Bhaktamar Stotra. We all Jains have read in scriptures that Acharya Mantungacharyaji wrote Bhaktamar Stotra in Stuti (praise) of Lord Adinath in Jail as he was put behind bars by Raja Bhoj for not showing his mystic powers. By writing each Shloka one lock would open and all 48 locks of prison opened one by one as he completed the Stotra. I have made an animation movie on how Acharya Mantungacharyaji wrote this Stotra and how each lock opened one by one and he came out of jail by writing 48 shlokas. All chains we unlocked and guards and King found him sitting under the tree. (Here I would like to share the animation movie which I produced got selected in International Film Festival where 20 best film of world were shown and this movie was chosen as being special in character. Although with my small budget I used green carpet technology.) This is the power of Bhaktamar. All this we studied in Holy Scriptures.
Once my mother and my father took me to Shikharji with a delegation headed by Sahu Ashok Kumar Jain (Chairman Times of India) Shikharji is our most popular pilgrimage as 22 Tirthankars (Lords of Jains) went to Moksha (Nirvana) from this holy mountain. While we were climbing the mountain we saw one an old Muni/ monk climbing and my mother immediately got down from Doli/ chair and started walking with him. He was Acharya Arayanandi Ji who was 99 years old and while walking he narrated his story how he had became a monk. His story was very interesting, he was working for Hyderabad Nizam and for some reason he was given 'sentence to death'. After saying goodbye to family members he thought of Acharya Mantung Acharya Ji