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JAINA APIGRAPAS: PART II
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encircling ditch; nevertheless it was captured the impregnable island of Lankā! Can it therefore, in any manner, stand comparison with the migty fort of Sēļimba, an object of pride to the Angel of Victory?
Verse 19. How can I adequately describe the gallantry of the Vipras of Sēdisba, firm in determination like Rāma, who protect the uprooted souls coming from the four quarters by offering them asylum, like the god Vishņu protecting the three worlds along with the god Sankara by accommodating them in his belly, when the surging ocean overflowing its bounds engulfs this earth at the time of deluge?
Verse 20. Just as it was the god Girisa (i. e., Sankara ) who ensured safety when the gods and the demons had taken to fight stricken with fear at the sight of the Kalaküța poison, spit out by the fierce and infuriated serpent Sôsha on the occasion of the churning of the ocean, so did the guardians of the citadel of Sēdimba offer security to the people running amock in distress.
Verse 21. “The virtue of protecting those who say "Please, grant us refuge !' is found in two places only, namely, the ocean and the city fathers of Sēļimba.” Recipients of such praise, thus do the Three Hundred (Mahājanas) administer.
Lines 100–111. May they live for ever—the entire body of the Three Hundred Mahājanas of the eminent agrahāra of Sēdimba, who possess the virtues of self-restraint, self-discipline, study of the scriptures, meditation, concentration, silence, performance of religious exercises, chanting the holy syllables and tranquillity of mind; who never go back on their words, uttered once; who perform the exorcising ritual for breaking open the doors of the city gates of Kāñchipura; who are conflagration to the forest of opposing clans; who have crossed the ocean of the four Vedas; who are well-versed in composing manifold forms of speech; who are the gods on earth endowed with the sixty-four arts; who entice the deity Jvālini of golden ear-rings; who have qualified themselves in all lores; who are an adamantine cage as it were to the refugees seeking their asylum; who are unassailable like the elephants of the quarters and who are attached like bees to the lotus feet of the illustrious god Nārāyaṇa.
Verse 22. Foremost among them is the far-famed Chandirāja, an abode of great virtues. The mountain of the gods (Mēru) in courage, he has sanctified his family. He is devoted to the praise of Lord Arhat.
Verse 23. Not merely in name but in all other respects, this Chandra is identical with his heavenly namesake (the Moon). It is thus. The lustre of his reputation has spread like the moonlight; mildness is his great
