________________
forbade him to do such a thing.
The miraculous power of the sage astonished the king, who now questioned him about the whereabouts of his departed parents and grandparents after their death. The sage related that Yaņorgha, the king's grand-father, after practicing religious austerities according to Jain tenets, became after his death a divine sage, while his mother Amrtamati went to the fifth hell in consequence of her sins. As for his father Yaşodhara and grand-mother Candramati, they had to undergo countless sufferings in many a birth owing to the sin of having sacrificed a rooster made out of flour dough in lieu of living animals. Sudatta finished by saying that the two souls have now been rebom as Yaşomati's own children, Abhayaruci and Abhayamati.
The words of the sage made the king realize the enormity of his own sin on account of having killed numerous animals and partaken of their flesh since his early childhood. Disgusted with life, he made up his mind to follow the path of religion. And before renouncing the world he narrated to Abhayaruci and Abhayamati the story of their previous births.
The ascetic boy (Abhayaruci) now relates to Māradatta that he and his sister Abhayamati, on hearing their father's words, suddenly remembered their former births and decided in their turn to renounce the world, although they were at that time only about eight years old. Owing to their tender age, they became religious apprentices under the sage Sudatta, and traveling in his company, had arrived at the outskirts of Ujjain, when they were arrested by Māradatta's men and produced before him.
The narrative of the ascetic boy visibly moved Māradatta, and the latter, having realized that worldly happiness is like a dream or a magic show expressed his desire to enter the Jain order as a novice. Abhayaruci advised him to see the sage Sudatta and both set out to meet the great teacher.
Sudatta, perceiving by his supernatural knowledge that Māradatta was coming to meet him, himself came to the king's court, and was received with honor. Abhayaruci introduced Māradatta to the sage as the son of a king and the younger brother of his mother Kusumāvalī, and spoke about the prince's desire to be initiated into the religious life. Māradatta then questioned Sudatta about the nature of Dharma, the
62 For Private & Personal Use Only
Jain Education International
www.jainelibrary.org
