Risabha Deva

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Jain Mitra Mandal

Page 15

CHAPTERI
GLIMPSES ALONG LIFE'S JOURNEY. SOME PREVIOUS INCARNATION.
1. Jaya Varma Long, incalculably long, long, ago, Sri Sen was the king of Indrapuri, in the country of Gandhilā. His queen was Sundari, who was really very beautiful, as the name implied. From her Śri Sen hali two sons, Jaya Varmā and Sri Varmā who was the younger. The parents were very fond of their younger son, and appointed him their successor. Any other prince in place of Jaya Varmā would have resented this unkindly act, and revolted against the parental authority. But Jaya Varmā was a different being. He did not cherish resentment or disaffection towards the authors of his being, and did not seek to oust his younger brother from the throne. The incident merely filled him with renunciation, he was seized with the spirit of world-fight, and sought refuge at the feet of a Jaina Saint. He was duly admitted in the order, and earned much merit as a yogi (ascetic), by practising the twelve kinds of asceticism, internal and external. One day he was bitten by a serpent and died of the venom. Jaya Varmă did not attempt to kill the vermin, and cherished no resentment in his heart. He reincarnated as a son to Atibala king of Alkäpuri, from his queen Manoharā.