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To others, also, he seems such. O Bhagavan! How did he acquire this excellence during his human existence ?
Śramana Bhagavana Mahāvîra thereupon narrated the previous life of Mahaccandra Kumara as follows :--
Previous Life.
O Gautama! There was a king named Jitaśatru in a town named Tigicchǎ in this Bharata-varsa. One day a venerable saint named Dharma-virya, happened to come there. He was full of strength, beauty, politeness, knowledge, right faith, and good conduct. He was bashful, gentle, energetic, glorious, majestic, and famous. He had overcome anger, pride, deceit, greed, sloth, sensual enjoyments, hardships, and misfortune. He was without eagerness for living and without fear from death. He was a huge treasure of knowledge. He was devout. He was virtuous. He lived on faultless alms-begging. He possessed forgiveness, abandonment, learning, celibacy, self-restrain, truth, purity and good understanding. Besides, that saint was the primary cause of purity, a friend of all living beings and he was without any desire of the fruit of austerities. He was steady, addicted to self-control, and eager for good conduct. He liked faultless questions and answers
One day the saint, moving about in the town for almsentered the palace of King Jitaśatru. On seeing him coming into the palace, King Jita-satru, attracted by the saint's holiness and luster, and greatly delighted at heart, reverentially got up from his seat, and coming down from the foot-stool and advancing seven steps towards the saint, the king went round him three times by way of pradaksina, and adored him.
Pleased by getting an opportunity of treating the saint with food and drink-materials, the king at once went into the women's apartments, and personally did hospitality to the saint by giving him faultless food and drink-materials with a pure heart, kind words, and clean body
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