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on the altar. Kings waged constant wars for petty gains. Scriptures spread the false belief that to die fighting in such wars was the easiest path to salvation. Many women lost their husbands. Countless innocent children became orphans. Only a small group of persons had the access to right knowledge. Even the right to perform penances was restricted to a small group of people. What knowledge could the poor and lowly have? Only a certain class of people could read scriptures. Others were not allowed to even listen to them. If someone of the lower castes learnt scriptures secretly, setting in a corner molten lead was poured into his ears. The life of women was full of toil and drudgery. Woman was regarded as nothing more than a household commodity. She was not treated as an individual in her own rights. A beast of burden could easily escape but a woman could not win freedom except through death. All the four classes treated each other with feelings of hostility and contempt. The high-born were conceited. The distress of the downtrodden and the untouchable knew no bounds. They had no roof over their heads. They suffered silently the ceaseless oppression of the high-born. Aggression was regarded as a sign of bravery and he who sought friendship was regarded as a coward. To bathe in
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the blood of one's enemies was regarded as the height of bravery. Man was groping in the dark. Nature groaned terribly. All living beings were in agony. As if in answer to this universal fright Bhagwan Mahavir was born almost 2589 years ago. Light spread over the hellish scene on earth.
In that era there were a large number of states in India. Some states were ruled by kings and some others were ruled by powerful groups of men. Vaishali, the capital of the state of Videha, stood on the bank of the river Gandaki. This city had a number of suburbs. One of the suburbs was Kundagrama. King Siddhartha ruled in Kundagrama. He was a Kshatriya but he believed in peace and in the ultimate truth. He followed the ahimsa, non-violent way of life of Tirthankar Shri Parshvanatha, who had lived 200 years ago. One night queen Trishaladevi, the wife of King Siddhartha, had fourteen dreams. Having these dreams, the queen woke up. She related the dreams to King Siddhartha. The king called an assembly of the experts who knew the science of dreams and he asked them to expound the meanings of these dreams. The following are the portents of these fourteen great dreams.
The first dream of the saffron coloured lion suggested that the king's son would be matchless in fearlessness, bravery and generosity and that having
