King Shripal and Mayana Sundari

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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KING SHRIPÄL AND MAYANÄ-SUNDARI
16 King Shripäl and Mayanä-sundari
King Singhrath ruled over Champä-nagar. By his queen, Kamal-prabhä, he had a son named Shripäl. The king died when Shripäl was five years old. King Singhrath's brother Ajitsen was very ambitious and took this opportunity to seize the throne. He was keen on getting rid of Shripäl in order to make his position as king secure. When Kamal-prabhä became aware of Ajitsen's vicious plan, she fled from Champä-nagar along with her son. Learning about her escape, Ajitsen sent his trusted soldiers to pursue her. How long could the poor lady go, especially since she had to run on foot with a young child? As the soldiers got close, she did not know how to save her son. She saw a group of lepers. In desperation, she asked them to take her son into their custody. They warned her about the risk of her son contracting the disease of leprosy from them. However, she had no choice if she wanted to save her son, so she entrusted her son to them.
Shripäl was very bold and handsome. The leper colony became very fond of him and took great care of Shripäl. Ultimately, Shripäl contracted leprosy. When he became a youth, the people made him their leader, and named him Umar Ränä. Under his leadership, the group traveled from place to place and one day arrived at Ujjayini city, the capital of Mälwä region.
King Prajäpäl was ruling there. He and queen Rupsundari had two daughters named Sursundari and Mayanä-sundari. They were very beautiful and intelligent. The king loved both of them and made adequate arrangements for their training in the arts and crafts. The girls mastered all of them in due course. Once the king decided to test their knowledge and called them in the assembly hall. He asked a number of questions to Sursundari who gave satisfactory replies to all of them. At the end, the king asked her by whose favor she got all her skills and also the amenities and luxuries that she enjoyed. The girl humbly replied that she gained all that by the king's favor. The king was pleased with her replies and decided to reward her appropriately.
Then he asked several questions to Mayanä-sundari. She too gave satisfactory replies to all his questions. At the end, the king asked her the same question that he had asked Sursundari. He had expected Mayanä to give an identical reply and thus please him. But Mayanä had total faith in the religious philosophy she had studied at length. She therefore replied:
"O father! The great king! With due respect to you, all the comfort that you provide me are only because of my meritorious (Punya) Karma. Every one gets whatever is written in his or her destiny due to his or her Karma. You yourself cannot give or take away anything."
Everything that she had received had been the result of her Karma. She must have earned good Karma in the past that resulted in the happy situations that she was undergoing. If she did not have that Karma to her credit, no one could bestow happiness on her. The king was exasperated to hear the unexpected reply. He repeatedly asked her to consider how she could have obtained anything but for his generosity. Mayanä replied that everything right from her being born as his daughter up to her present situation could occur solely as a consequence of her good or bad Karmas, and no one or nothing could have made any difference.
The king grew angry from her unexpected persistence. He could not believe that the girl could have received anything but for his favor. He could not believe that everything happens according to one's own
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