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water. Vimalsha was amazed to hear that and asked the person why he was demanding toll to drink the water. The person replied that he was a descendent of the person who had built: well. Since he was poor, he was collecting toll for using the well.
would give them gold equal to the weight of stone powder! His generosity and the beauty of the temple have immortalized his name. It is virtually a wonder of the world. Later on, Vimalsha led a Jain Sangha to Shatrunjay Mountain located in the town of Palitana that cost 40 million gold coins. He constructed the Vimalvasahi temple there. It is located on the way to the main complex on the hill. It is a small but equally exquisite temple. It is popularly known as Bhulbhulamani temple, meaning a maze temple. He also constructed the wellknown temples of Kumbharia hills on the Arasur hill on the northern border of Gujarat. Moreover, he is credited with the construction of a beautiful temple in the capital city of Patan.
Vimalsha was taken aback to hear that. He asked himself, "What would happen if one day some of my own descendents tried to collect a toll for the temple that I have built?" He shuddered at the idea and again asked himself whether it would be better in that case to remain without a child. He went up and told his wife about the incident. She concurred with his thinking. At midnight when the goddess asked them what they wanted. Shridevi replied that she did not want a child anymore. Now, it was the turn of the goddess to be taken aback. Vimalsha narrated what he had experienced and said that they wanted to remain childless.
One successful but highly instructive anecdote is associated with his later life. It is said that Shridevi had a dream in which she saw a goddess. The goddess asked her to go to the temple along with her husband at midnight on a specific date and ask for whatever they ranted. Both of them were eager to have a son and went to the temple to express their wish. While they were waiting for midnight arrive, they felt thirsty. Vimalsha therefore went to an adjoining well to fetch water, inside the well there were steps which went all the way down to the water level. While he was going down the steps to get the water, someone asked him to pay toll for taking
Stories After Bhagwan Mahavir
[3]
TASTUPAL & TEJPAL
wo brothers, Vastupal and Tejpal
were ministers in the court of King Vir-Dhaval in Gujarat. Tejpal was also a very outstanding commander of the army. Both brothers made their name by their valor and faithfulness. They helped the king to conquer enemies and
