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Here is the story:
In his past life, the Monk Meghakumara had been an elephant named Meruprabha. He was the leader of a group of 500 elephants. Once, there was a fire in the jungle and its beasts began running wildly in panic. To save them, Meruprabha - the lord of elephants - prepared a marumbhumandala {flat piece of ground and a maandalaa a circle). All the animals and birds of the jungle stayed in the open within the periphery drawn by Meruprabha. The place was jampacked with birds and animals. There was no place to squeeze in another bird or animal. But just then, a tiny rabbit hopped in. Since there was absolutely no place within the circle, he went and sat exactly on the spot just vacated by Meruprabha since he had raised his foot to scratch an itch. When Meruprabha was about to plant his foot back on the floor, he learnt that an innocent rabbit had occupied the space exactly where his foot had been. Now, had the elephant put his foot down not caring about the consequences, he would have certainly killed the rabbit which would have been crushed to death under the heavy foot of the elephant. Out of compassion for the tiny rabbit, Meruprabha kept his leg raised for over 20 praharas {a division of time about 60 hours long). As the jungle fire died out, all the creatures gradually left the periphery drawn by the elephant king. Even the rabbit went away. When Meruprabha tried to place his foot on the crowd, it was so stiff that he could not maintain his balance and he collapsed. There, remaining indifferent to the intense physical agony he had to endure, Meruprabha remained calm and tranquil and died peacefully.
The Authors of the scriptures write that,
“Tam jaitaava tumam mehaa tirikkhajoniya bhaavamuvagayenam apadiladdha sammattarayanalambhena se paaye naanaanukampaaye jaava antaraa cheva sandhaariye, no cheva nam nikkhitte"
Gynatadharmakathanga Suutra, verse 1.138 (Page 80, Publisher: Gurupraana Foundation, Rajkot, year 2004)
O monk Meghakumara, despite being born as an animal, your samyaktva and your deep compassion ensured that you kept your foot raised in order to save a life. As a result of this great act of merit, you were born as a human. And that too, the son of King Shreniika. Hence, your samyaktva was the cause of your rebirth as a human being.
The attainment of samyaktva is the achievement of a special light
The light of worldly lamps can be extinguished. But the lamp of samyaktva, especially of kshaayika samyaktva {attained through annihilation of samyaktva-obstructing karmas} can never be extinguished. In fact, its radiance keeps on increasing.
He who attains samyaktva experiences greater pleasure than a congenitally blind man would on
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