________________
Self-Immolation
109
The teachings of the Lord Mahavira overwhelm so deeply the lay worshipper Ananda that he induces his wife to go to the lord Mahāvīra and accept religious instructions from him. Dvoted as she was to her husband she did it and became installed with a deep religious feeling.
Ananda in this way passed fourteen years observing multifarious kinds of religious works, abstinences, renunciations, fasts etc. (data 1498941EU
ataglaari). Suddenly such a thought flashed into his mind that due to his stay in the house he could not do more vigorously the religious services, which he ought to have done. He then laid the charge of his house to his eldest son and came to his residence Kolla. There he lived close to the Lord Mahavira in his posaha-house and heard every now and then religious preachings from him. He became more devoted to the austere practices. By this he attained the eleventh standard of a lay-worshipper ( 31-OCHT). By these austerities and rigorous observances he became very weak and extremely emaciated. This extreme hardship brought for him the avadhijñāna, a superhuman knowledge, a kind of magic power by which one could see far, beyond the ken of the physical eye. Thus he passed twenty years. Then with a view to attaining the final emancipation he decided to destroy the body by the rejection of food and drink and took to more rigorous practices. For thirty days he survived without any kind of nourishment of the body. He remained submerged in deep meditation. The end came at last and he left the mortal frame.
He became a god after the dissolution of the body and lived in the Aruna vimāņa in the Sohamma-heaven in the North-east of the Sohamma vadimsaya along with other gods. But here his stay was not permanent. He was destined to be here for the period of four paliovamas. But he attained the ultimate liberation in the Mahāvideha.
This clearly shows that self-immolation is a sanctioned religious practice in the Jaina faith. Lord Mahāvīra approved it and Ananda brought his emancipation by such abnegation of the worldly existence.
The story of Kamadeva is similar to that of Ananda both in contents and purport. Kāmadeva lived in Campā where Jiyasattu was the king. Kāmadeva was distiguished house-holder. His wife was Bhaddā. Like Ananda he too was the owner of a big estatz. Like the former he placed the charge of his family to his eldest son and accepted the duties of a lay worshipper. He received instructions from the Lord and observed religious practices in the secluded corner of the posaha-house. He was noted for his devotion and firm resolve to secure emancipation.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
