Lord Mahavira Vol 02

Author(s): S C Rampuria
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati Institute

Page 38

Life of Lord Mahâvîra
29
the Nighanta (Lexicon ), which may be termed a sixth; the body of divinity with all its members, and know also their hidden meaning. He will be acquainted with the six subsidiary members of the Veda, and the sixth philosophical system ( the Sankhya ), with Mathematics, the Institute which directs the rites and ceremonies, Grammar, Prosody, Analysis of words, Astronomy, and other Brahmanical Scriptures, especially that relating to the state of an ascetic; in all of these he will become a proficient. Thou, O beloved of the gods, hast indeed seen a dream that forebodes prosperity.”
After a little while, reflecting within himself on the subject before him, the following thoughts occurred to the mind of Sahara, prince and king of the gods; surely such a thing as this has never happened in past, happens not in present, nor will happen in future time, that an Arhat, a Chakravarti, a Baladeva or a Vasudeva should be born in a low caste family, a servile family, a degraded family, a poor family, a mean family, a beggar's family or a Brahman's family; but, on the contrary, in all time past, present, and to come, an Arhat, a Chakravarti, a Vasudeva, receives birth in a noble family, an honourable family, a royal family, a Kshatriya family, as in the family of Ikshvaku, or the Harivams'a family, or some such of pure descent.
The best thing then that can be done is to withdraw the venerable ascetic Mahâvîra, last of the Tirthankaras, as pointed out by his predecessors, from the womb of Devananda, and place him in that of Tris’ala, the Kshatrayani, of the family of Vasistha, wife of Siddhartha, the Kshatriya, of the family of Kas’yapa, both of pure Kshatriya descent.
Harinegamesi, chief of the heavenly messengers, having received the commands of S'akra, king and chief of the gods, arrived at Jambudvipa, at the house of Rishbha Datta. On entering, he at once saw the worshipful ascetic Mahâvîra, and prostrated himself before him. Then having cast Davananda, with all her attendants and family, into a deep sleep, having removed all impure water, he took out what was pure, and without injuring or paining the adorable ascetic Mahâvîra, he placed him surrounded with a divine lustre, in the palm of one hand, and covering him with the other, carried him off to the Kshatriya division of Kundagrama, to the house of the Kshatriya Siddhartha,