Risabha Deva

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

Page 16

RISABHA DEVA
2. Mahabala Alkāpuri is situated on a hill in one of the distant Provinces of the Jambu Dvipa. Sahasrabala was at one time the king of this place. When he became old he took to sannyása (asceticism), to look after his spiritual well-being. His son Śatabala succeeded him, and, after a long and prosperous reign, followed in the footsteps of his father, and renounced the world Atibala, his son, then became the king of Alkāpuri. He married the fair princess Manoharā The soul of Jaya Varmā took birth as a son to Atibala and Manoharā, as stated above. They called him Mahābala.
As the fruit of his previous life's asceticism, Mahābala was endowed witn many great virtues and was surrounded by all kinds of splendours and the good things of the world. For a long time he enjoyed life and was much respected by all.
Mahābala was not only a great king; he was also a great thinker. He had four ministers who favoured four different creeds. These were: Malāmati, who was a materialist, Sambhinnamati, who held that things were unreal, being really only so many ideas'; Śātamati, who maintained the doctrine of voidness; and Svayambuddha, who was a Jaina. The family religion of the king, too, was Jainism; but Svayambuddha felt much anxiety about him, and wanted to turn his thoughts definitely towards dharma (religion), so that the possession of wealth might not stand in the way of the future prosperity of his soul.
One day the king saw two terrible dreams and was much affected by them. Svayambuddha then