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64
KUVALAYAMALA
[III]
(i) Māyāditya, alias Gangaditya, was a treacherous merchant from Vārāṇasī. He developed friendship with Sthāņu of good nature. Both of them reached Pratiṣṭhāna for business. They earned five-thousand coins each and converted the cash into five jewels for each. They started home, dressed as friars for safety of travelling. Māyāditya attempted, more than once, to deceive his companion and deprive him of his share: he pushed him once into a well; but a party of robbers saved him once from that plight, gave him his share of five jewels, and warned him to beware of his treacherous associate whom they had already thrown in a thicket taking all the ten jewels on his person. Sthāņu's behaviour was so straight and sincere that Māyāditya felt penitent. A dip in the Ganges was prescribed by the village elder as prāyas'citta. It was saint Dharmanandana who advised him to seek shelter in the words of Jina, and gave him dikṣā seeing that his Karmas had sufficiently quieted (§§ 110-25). In the next birth, Māyāditya was born as (ii) Padmavara in the Saudharma-kalpa (p. 96.6). He constructed the Samavasaraṇa of Dharmanatha at which all the colleagues met and decided what they should do to get samyaktva (pp. 96.27 f.; 102.13 f.). Thence, in due course, he was born as (iii) Kuvalayamālā, the daughter of king Mahāsena (or Vijayasena) and his queen Bhanumati of Vijayāpurī in the South, born to them through divine favour (pp. 162 f.). She developed aversion for men. When, however, Kuvalayacandra overcame the mad elephant in Vijayapurī and completed the verse hung by her in public, she garlanded him as her bridegroom. Soon she was married to him. She had quite a happy time with him during the period of honey-moon. Reminded of their earlier resolve and receiving due instructions from him, she developed Samyaktva and followed Jinadharma. She left her parents with a heavy heart and accompanied her husband to Ayodhyā. On the way, she shared the adventures and experiences of her beloved. After king Dṛdhavarman accepted renunciation, she enjoyed the kingdom with her husband for many years. God Padmakesara was born as a son to them, and became known as prince Prthvīsāra. As resolved earlier she took to religious life along with her husband and practised penances. She was reborn as (iv) a god in the Saudharmakalpa. Further that god took birth as (v) Mahāratha, son of king. Śrenika (p. 269.13 f.). As a boy of eight, he entered the Samavasarana of Mahāvīra and sought the explanation of his dream. On hearing his future from Mahāvīra, he took dikṣā, practised samlehaṇāmarana and adopted Kṣapaka-śreṇī to get liberation (§§ 420 f.).
[IV]
(i) Lobhadeva, alias Dhanadeva, was highly greedy. For earning more wealth, he went to the South and camped with Bhadraśreṣṭhin at Soparaka. By selling horses in the local market, he earned enormous wealth there. He was given a reception in the Native Traders' club where he heard of still greater profits in distant countries. By prevailing upon Bhadraśreṣṭhin to accompany him, he reached with him Ratnadvipa where they had huge gains. While returning in a ship, he trickily pushed Bhadraśreṣṭhin into the sea, so that he was no more to share his gains. The latter was reborn as a Rākṣasa, and took revenge on
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