Narrative Tale in Jain Literature

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Asiatic Society

Page 63

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NARRATIVE TALE IN JAIN LITERATURE
from the Dūipalāsa Cheïya and from the presence of the Samaņa, the blessed Mahāvīra and then returned to where his own house was in the city of Vaniyagāma; and having done so, he spake to his wife Sivanandā thus : "Truly, O beloved of the devas, I have listened to the Law in the presence of the Samana, the blessed Mahāvīra, and that Law is what I desire and except and am pleased with; so now, do thou, o beloved of the devas, go and praise the Samana, the blessed Mahāvīra, and (as above, 810, down to) wait on him, and in his presence take on thyself the twelvefold law of a householder which consists of the five lesser vows and the seven disciplinary vows.
59. Then that Sivanandā, his wife, being thus spoken to by Anananda, the servant of the Samana and being happy and pleased, called her domestic servants; and having done so, she spake to them thus : "Quickly bring to me without loss of time" (the sacred vehicle, and so forth, down to, she went and) waited on the Samana.
60. Then the Samana, the blessed Mahāvīra, spake a sermon on the Law to Sivanandā and to the right great company that had come out with her.
61. Then that Sivanandā, having listened and attended to the Law in the presence of the Samaņa, the blessed Mahāvīra, and being happy and pleased, (and so forth, down to) took on herself the law of a householder; and having done so, she re-ascended that excellent sacred vehicle of hers, and then returned to the place whence she had come.
62. When she had gone away, the blessed Goyama turning to the Samana, the blessed Mahāvīra, praised and worshipped him; and having done so, he spake to him thus: "Reverend Sir, is Āņanda, the servant of the Samana, capable of submitting, in the presence of the beloved of the devas, to the tonsure and (as above, & 12, down to) entering the monastic state ?"
Mahāvīra replied: "No, that is not the case, O Goyama; but Āņanda, the servant of the Samana, will follow the profession of a servant of the Samaņa for many years; and having done so. (and so forth, as below, $ 85, down to) he will be re-born as a deva in the Aruņābha abode of the Sohamma heaven." There a certain class of devas are declared to enjoy an existence of four paliovama periods;