________________
CHAPTER XIII
PEEPING INTO THE FUTURE
Bharata was never quite at ease in his mind about the wisdom of the step he had taken as regards the establishment of the Brāhmaṇa class, since he knew that his Father, who could have done it as well, had not seen it fit to do so. One night he saw a number of dreams which alarmed him a bit, and he decided to question the WORLD TEACHER about their import. So he proceeded to Mount Kailāsa where Rişabha Deva was staying at the time, and after worshipping Him with reverence and devotion, related his dreams, and humbly sought their explanation from Him. He was told that his dreams bore reference to the next age (the panchama kāla) which would be marked with much deterioration and misery.
The first dream was the sight of twenty-three lions, roaming in a forest and then climbing up the summit of a hill. The WORLD TEACHER interpreted it to mean that in the day of twentythree out of the twenty-four Tirthamlaras, Jaina Saints would remain steadfast to their austere ideal, and prove worthy of saintship.
160
