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practise religious rites. Ascetics also walking from Village to village, go to the temples with the object of paying homage to the images of the Tirthankaras, and instruct people in the prin ciples of the True Religion strictly in accordance with teachings of the Tirthankaras. On hearing the preaching, devout persons become enlightened and accept the flawless Dharma. Thus, the Order established by the Tirthankaras goes on increasing. What more! By the excellent merit of preparing temples, images etc. of Tirthankaras, the wealth of the celestial kingdom and of Final Emancipation is easily available to the lotus-like hands of devout persons.
In this way Bharata Narendra had an excellent temple for Tirthankaras built on Mount Asţāpaga. He governed his kingdom and enjoyed worldly pleasures for a long time.
Kdyala Jiāna to Bharata. One day, Bharata Cakravartin, adorned with various valuable ornaments, entered a house of glass-mirrors decorated with preci. ous stones, with the object of viewing his own appearance. While looking out for his appearance from different stand-points, a finger-ring dropped down from one of his fingers and the finger without the ring, appeared displeasing. On seeing the finger devoid of beauty, Bharata Cakravartin, with the object of seeing his natural appearance, removed all the ornaments, one by one, from the different parts of his body, and he, becoming vio lently agitated on very carefully looking at his own body which was devoid of brightness, beauty, and loveliness, like the vault of the sky from which all the stars have disappeared, like a cornfield with all the crop of the corn remuved from it, like a lako without a lotus or like a rigid cage of bones made as if from the wood of a tree with the ends of its branches chopped off," and becoming stimulated by an increasing desire of indifference to worldly objects he began to think thus -
“Becoming infatuated towards this despicable body, why did I comwit extremely terrible great sins for a long time for it?
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