________________
tional fall of his weapon and consoled her to the effect that the prince should soon recover at the hands of the physicians. The friends of the prince, however, did not kill the murderer as he was the king himself, and carried the prince away and informed the latter's son Candrayaśas about the incident. Candrayaśas lamented but immediately called for the physicians, who tried their best to save the prince but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
And, at last, having realized the hopeless condition of her husband, and wishing to save the last moments of his life, Madanarekhā started instructing him into the practical aspects of Jainism urging him to give up the indignation, adopt forgivefulness and other noble qualities conducive to perfect equipoise of the mind. The prince, too, was highly enlighted and consequently turned pacific, and died peacefully without any rancour against anybody.
When the whole palace was filled with the cries of mourning relativos, Madanarekba wisely realized that her son Candrayaśas would not be safe in her presence, and hence left the palace and started for some other country through a big forest. She passed one night in wilderness, where she saw a wild elephant, a lion and wild forest fire. Going further she came across a lotus pond. At midday she rested in the forest, washed her hands and feet, worshipped the gods and preceptors, ate wild fruits and slept due to exhaustion.
At midnight the pains of labour started it dawned upon her that she was about to a give birth to a child. In due time a handsome son was born to her. Her heart was now suddenly filled with the memories of her deceased husbund and she wept bitterly. After some time when the burden of the sorrow subsided, she wrapped her just born child in a piece of cloth, put the ring of prince Yugabahu on to its finger and, having secured the child in a creeper bower, went to the nearby lake to wash her soiled clothes and take bath.
In the meantime, there appeared a wild elephant that caught her iB its trunk and threw her in the air. She was still in the air, when a Vidyadhara suddenly caught hold of her and carried her to the Vaitadhya mountain. While she was weeping, the Vidyadhara informed her that she was then on the Vaitādhya mountain and asked her to be his wife. When she told him that she had just born a child and was extremely worried about it, the Vidyadhara informed her about his own identity and told her that her child was taken away by King Padmaratha of Mithila, and was handed over to his childless queen, and was being looked after by five nurses. Madanarekbā was free from her worries for the child, but, having
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
