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KUVALAYAMÂLÂ
the religious teachers might be invited by a declaration; and the religion, which agreed with the one described in the Ms. would be accepted by the king (Pages 198.6-203.21; *69.26- *70.42).
DRDHAVARMAN HEARS VARIOUS RELIGIOUS TEACHERS, ADOPTS TRUE RELIGION AND ACCEPTS PRAVRAJYA: Accordingly, there arrived various religious teachers and propounded what they considered to be the Dharma; and every time the king saw whether and how far a particular view agreed with what was laid down in the Ms. They (such as Tridaṇḍi, Advaita, Sadvaita etc.) gave their views about Jīva, Elements, Liberation, Sacrifice, Living, Dying, Purification, Meditation, Begging, God etc. Finally, one Teacher preached abstention from five sins and Arhat as the divinity: this, the king found, agreed with what was prescribed in the Ms. The king took leave of all the other teachers; and from the teacher, whose religion he accepted, he got further enlightenment about agama, apta and mokşa. The prince conveyed to the king how he was carried away by the horse to enlighten him in this religion, how he met his colleagues of the earlier birth, and how he had many other occasions to realize the greatness of this religion. The king was convinced of the urgency of adopting this religion. Next morning, he duly greeted his relatives etc., gave rich gifts to various people, called, along with the princes, on the teacher of his religion, and requested him for being initiated into the order of monks. The teacher gave him pravrajya according to due formalities (Pages 203.22-209.14; *71.1-31).
TEACHER'S RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE AND DRDHAVARMAN'S SPIRITUAL PROGRESS: Then, to that gathering, the teacher gave a discourse on the rarity of human birth, of religious instruction, of faith in religion and of the practice of selfcontrol (illustrating them with jugasamilā dṛṣṭānta, § 326, and other similes). The royal saint Dṛdhavarman started following the course of his duties in their positive and negative aspects for a pretty long time till very little of his Karman remained to be destroyed (Pages 209.15-211.31; *71.31- *72.4).
GOD PADMAKESARA DULY REBORN AS PRINCE PṚTHVĪSĀRA AND SOON MADE THE KING: Kuvalayacandra ruled for many many years. The heavenly period of life of Padmakesara came to termination. Quite sensibly he reconsidered his past, came to Ayodhya, conveyed to Kuvalayacandra and Kuvalayamālā that he would be born as their son, and presented them some ornament which would make him remember his past and take to renunciation. In due course, he was duly born as a son to them and was named Pṛthvīsāra. After seeing those ornaments he remembered his past and developed a detachment for worldly pleasure and royal pomp. Much against his instincts, he was crowned as yuvarāja and requested by Kuvalayacandra to look after the kingdom. When the prince desired to relinquish the world, Kuvalayacandra dissuaded him in view of his young age; but he himself remained awaiting some teacher with a view to looking after his benefit in the next world. The king, after discussing religious topics with Kuvalayamālā, retired one night, and, early in the morning, occupied himself with pious thoughts yearning for ascetic life in the near future. When it was morning, Kuvalayamālā reminded him of his earlier resolve that in case he met his parents alive and got himself crowned, he would put his son on the throne and enter the order. Thus she indicated and confirmed whatever
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